Crêpes are back in the Burg! A few years ago, where The Ale and the Witch sits today, was a French restaurant and crêperie named L'Olivier. After a relatively short span, L'Olivier closed up shop and crêpes were gone. Sure there are plenty of restaurants with crêpes on the menu - usually as a dessert - but nowhere has a full menu of sweet crêpes, savory crêpes, and everything in between. Enter La Crêperia Cafe on Central Avenue... After a successful location in Ybor City, La Crêperia Cafe expanded with a second location in St. Petersburg. Have you seen that shiny silver Airstream as you've driven down Central Avenue? That's where the crêpe magic happens!
Crêpes are actually incredibly easy to make at home, but always taste better when you get them at a real crêperie. The base of a crêpe is made with flour, eggs, milk, butter, and a touch of salt. A professional crêperie uses a large flat hot plate and spreads the batter evenly over the surface. After 1 flip and a few minutes, the crêpe is ready to be filled with whatever your heart (and tastebuds) desire. Here's a video of how the pros in Paris make a crêpe:
Crêpes are actually incredibly easy to make at home, but always taste better when you get them at a real crêperie. The base of a crêpe is made with flour, eggs, milk, butter, and a touch of salt. A professional crêperie uses a large flat hot plate and spreads the batter evenly over the surface. After 1 flip and a few minutes, the crêpe is ready to be filled with whatever your heart (and tastebuds) desire. Here's a video of how the pros in Paris make a crêpe:
Some of my fondest memories of food, travel, and life involve crêpes in my other favorite city, Paris. Happiness is a Nutella crêpe fresh from the crêpe stand across from the Eiffel Tower. And having an egg topped crêpe for lunch with a Parisian and some of your best friends at a local diner. And impressing your new boyfriend with your French skills by ordering a "Jambon et fromage crêpe, si vous plait." You get the picture!
I am happy to have La Crêperia Cafe in my backyard now, so those crêpe cravings come at a cheaper price than a flight to Europe. I recently met up with Jenn from Jenn Likes It and Nikki from SandBookWich for dinner. Even though I had looked at the menu many times before, I still had to look a few more times before I placed my order. There are just so many options to choose from. And if they don't have what you want, you can customize anything!
The only bad thing about our visit to La Creperia Cafe was that only 1 person was working. 1 person to take orders and to cook orders. A little strange, and hopefully not the norm. But hey, it's a small business and sometimes those things happen. C'est la vie, right?
Anyway, on to the food! I ended up ordering the Croque-monsieur, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich topped with melted cheese. Jenn and Nikki ordered some savory crêpes, and we shared the Romeo y Julieta (banana, strawberry, and Nutella) for dessert. It is best to visit La Crêperia with friends, so you can mix and match or share your crêpes. There is a lot to choose from and you will want to try everything! We were stuffed, and the dessert crêpe shared 3 ways was plenty! There are some tables outside to dine at, or a small inside area decorated with Paris flare.
The next time you want a different kind of breakfast, or a dessert date with your sweetheart, head down to La Crêperia Cafe. I am happy to welcome crêpes back to the Burg and I hope you are too! Bon appétit, mon ami!
Check out what others are saying about La Crêperia Cafe on UrbanSpoon:
