Creative Crepes & More - Lake Tahoe, CA

I try not to get too political, but there's been a lot of buzz lately about how the younger generations "don't want to work." If you're trying to understand why, just come here on a weekday and it will all be crystal clear. 

One young lady commands the counter, alone against the long line of patient customers. She takes the payments and makes each crepe or waffle to order, and it's not a quick process by any means. The credit card swipe stops working properly so she's forced to enter every card by hand or take the time to count out change. I asked her where her coworkers and managers were and she quietly tells me that the manager lives 30 minutes away and therefore "has difficulty commuting" so they just told her to unplug the credit card machine and plug it back in. (This has not worked after 4 attempts and they are aware of that). The owner lives "all the way in Reno", one hour away, and therefore can't show up (???). There hasn't been serious snow at all, and though I don't know the details, I'm not sure how any business can justify this utter refusal to provide any aid to their hard-working employees. 

So they make crepes. The wait was so long that I couldn't take photos because my kid was falling apart. I kept it simple with the BSC, which could have used a bit more of everything. Not bad though, especially considering everything was being made under duress. 

The Basic liege waffle is delicious with its sugar-batter, but be prepared - it's a lot smaller than you'd expect for a waffle. 

The food is fine and the service is as well, considering the circumstances but I will never come back here because I can't feel good supporting this business. That poor young lady was clearly not supported at all, and it's just not okay that they treat their employees this way. 

La Creperia UPDATE - Tulum, Mexico

I knew I belonged here when the owner handed me my crepe. There is an adorably creative cat tattoo on her arm, and her eyes go endearingly wide and her face lights up when I ask her about it. "I LOVE cats!" she declares, with a sweeping gesture of affection towards the 4 cats that occupy empty chairs in her shop. 

That's when I know that in La Creperia, sipping my cat-infused Iced Latte, is exactly where I'm meant to be.

They know how to brew a great cup of coffee, iced or hot, but not everyone wants to be caffeinated all day. The Mint Lemonade glows an enticing green, and the tart lemonade coalesces with cool mint for a daytime refresh.

I love all the tacos, and I love all the burritos. And I love all the lunch plates. Bring on the beef, pork, and chicken most of the time, but once in a while it's nice to just have a simple sandwich. The White Sandwich is a panini-pressed, crispy-on-the-outside, soft-and-chewy-within foccacia fencing fibrous mozzarella, lunch-meat ham, and lettuce. A simple cafe classic, this one really hits the spot sometimes.

I prefer the crepes. Their fruit & nutella crepes are always winners, but the Butter & Sugar is the best. A paper-thin pancake and a liquid layer of buttery sugar is good I could eat another. I didn't eat another. I ate two others that day...and the next.

La Creperia has a diversity of offerings, but they clearly specialize in sweets. They make the most delightful tarts, a fresh n' fruity Strawberry, and a rich, smooth Nutella, both with a perfect firm crust.

There's something special about this place, and I could sit here all day. The air is warm and inviting, and their simple but hearty cafe comforts make some of the best and most affordable breakfasts, brunches, and lunches around. Tulum has a lot of great food options, but I could eat here any day and every day.

La Creperia – Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico

It's our last full day in Tulum, and it's the only day we get to sleep in. Vacation, #kelseystyle; this is how we roll. The smell of leisure emanates from our brunch crepes , the first of two days in a row that we eat here, the first of two days in a row that we're not eating breakfast in the back of a van.

La Creperia is so new it’s not even on Yelp, which makes me question whether it exists at all, but the hard-hitting Ham & Mozzerella Crepe is as real as it gets. The herbs shine through, an oregano-parsley mixto that adds some pep in the step to everyone's favorite childhood lunch.

They do advertise their drinks the most, but I don’t feel it’s their forte. The coffee is fine, but my Passionfruit Italian Soda is barely-fizzy sugar-water...

And the Mango Smoothie is a mason jar of semi-sweet yogurt where they forgot to add mango.

The Mango & Nutella Crepe makes better use of mango, hazelnut spread with bits of sweet, pulpy pieces tucked in. Not the best pairing with Nutella, but that's my fault, not theirs - they still do it well.

The Kiwi & Lemon Cream Crepe is where is starts to get weird. There is such a thing as bad fruit, I guess. The kiwi is fresh, but the lemon is unpleasantly tart with a bitter finish, and the yogurt-y sour cream on top doesn't help.

The Dark Chocolate & Banana Crepe brings it back. Heavy in a light crepe, melty chocolate and sweet 'nanners. Classic in the best way possible.

If you're staying at Posada del Sol, La Creperia is too convenient to skip. It's right by the road so you get a lovely view of cars driving by, but it's also the best place to pop out a laptop or sit and sip while you read a magazine. Save your pesos for the smoothies at Restaurant Tunich next door, but do take a moment to have a crepe...or two.

Berribliss (Closed) - Torrance

Berribliss has so sadly closed since I last ate there, but this mom-and-pop shop was something special, and I still feel like they deserve a proper, posthumous review.

The best thing about dessert is that there's always room for another. 

Even when you've had a huge meal and you feel like you can't choke down another bite, you'd be surprised just how much of the Berribliss Crepe you can still consume. The fresh berries are drizzled with berry-sweet sauce on a paper-thin crepe for a combination much lighter and fresher than I expected from this random little stall-like store.

Berribliss is also conveniently located in the same shopping center as Little Sheep, and just when I thought I couldn't possibly eat any more after hot pot and a very berry crepe, I saw the Bananas Foster Crepe.  The gooey banter between banana and brown sugar is always a welcome second happy ending to a very happy meal.

I've never had a very strong sweet tooth, but gluttonous me can't turn down a good crepe. I've never even been big on dessert, but I'm always down to be buried and berried by bliss at Berribliss. 

Reading Terminal Market - Philadelphia

I hadn't been back to the northeast since they first handed me my MD, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel homesick for my 6 northeastern years. Even a two-day trip to Philly (where I've never lived) felt familiar, and a stroll through Reading Terminal Market (where I've never been) was a stroll down memory avenue.

Profi's Creperie 

 The Strawberry Banana Caramel Crepe was sweet and refreshing...

but it was the Apples and Caramel Crepe that brought me back. One bite and I was picking prized apples from the lofty branches of a fruitful tree. The crepe didn't taste so different from all those apple cookies we baked. 

Sometimes we pour too much caramel over our memories, and it tends to over-sweeten them. I'm often nostalgic for the north, but the moment I stepped out of the airport, the cold hit me like the shock of a thousand needles, biting and stinging every inch of exposed flesh. That 50-degree weather was a painful reminder of how much cold weather turns me into a ho-hum homebody.

I though it would be easier to brave the cold when everything is close together, but it turns out I'm much more willing to take the elevator to my car. There may be ten different restaurants right outside my building, but there was no way I was facing the instant frostbite. Plus it's just not acceptable to be unable to dine outdoors in October. 

Kamal's Middle Eastern 

The Lamb Shwarma Plate is the embodiment of a city street - so many things squeezed into a tiny space. Mouth-watering strips of lamb sit atop a bed of rice, and pitas get dipped into a hummus with a bitter aftertaste. The forgettable salad and standard tabbouleh cool the combo down. So many things on the same plate, like so many restaurants on a not-so-stellar street. Mary may have wanted a little lamb, but this is too little lamb for ten dollars.

Golden Bowl

Times moves slower on the west coast. The Veggie Fried Rice may have been cooked up in a New York minute, but just like you can get run over by busy bankers if you walk too slowly through Midtown, you can get pretty buried by Golden Bowl grease if you choose your Chinese too quickly.

The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company 

There are two sides of every country, and there are two sides of every city. I'm slowly starting to think that west coast is the best coast, but I still can't quite commit. The west side is a softer embrace. But I get the best of both sides with a tasty Black & White Cookie. The white half is sweet and creamy, but the black half has more of a chocolatey bite. But maybe it isn't so much about picking a side. Maybe it's more about just enjoying every bite.

Common Crema Cafe - Long Beach

I've always been a Francophile, but it's all about the Spanish in SoCal. But the French have a way of crepe-ing up on me when I least expect it, especially at a cafe whose name is likely Spanish.

This cafe brews a pretty good cup of unlimited cafe, just make sure it's not too lait in the day to enjoy a cup. And I can't think of a much better way to start your day than coffee and a Breakfast Crepe. I chose it without the chorizo, which makes it a little blander but lightens it up a lot. Eggs with potato and avocado are always a winning combination, and you'd be an oeuf if you didn't pay the extra for sweet potato fries.

The breakfast crepe was a winner even if I was a wiener for skipping the Spanish sausage. The Proscuitto & Mozzerella Crepe, however, turned out to be a franc-ly terrible choice. The sheer amount of proscuitto was an overshoot, and even the chewy strings of mozzerella couldn't save me from succumbing to the feuille affect of the half-bottle of olive oil that drenched it. Nausea can be quite the pest-o when you're trying to enjoy your day.

Crema Cafe was okay, but if I'm going to drive all the way to Long Beach I need a better reason. I definitely don't regret going, but Eiffel-ly support the decisions to go somewhere else. 3 stars for an honest effort, but I'd add one more star if my crepe could be oil-frite.

Casual Creperie on Newbury – Boston

Anything Bostonian with Newbury in its name begs to be avoided. Newbury Street is Boston’s Times Square – a flocking of full-fledged tourists, small-strided sidewalk stoppers, mindless of the New York minute. But all snarky sightseer satire aside, Newbury Street is a delightful distraction for those taking in their first blustery Boston afternoon, and the Creperie is just another stop along the journey to crawl the mall. As a jaded local, I generally avoid Newbury restaurants, but after Dore’s untimely demise, Boston creperies have been about as common as people who keep their eyes on the ground in Times Square.

For starters, unlike pretty much everything on Newbury, the Creperie is reasonably priced. If you bought the groupon like I did, make sure to bring a friend. If you have no friends, I recommend fasting for a couple days.

The list of savory crepes looks quite catchy, but we were craving the sweet so we only tried the Provencale. I expected a heavily creamy goat-cheese-loaded luxury, but the red pepper, fresh tomato, and dash of olive added a surprising lightness. Not a bad stop along the shopping trail – if you’re trying to exercise your cardswipe arm before and after you eat, crepes like this one allow you to saunter down the sidewalk afterward, rather than rolling.

The Provencale may have been surprisingly well-executed, but the Crepe Suzette was a disaster. They remembered every last cup of Grand Marnier but they forgot the flambé. Setting it on fire burns off the alcohol, but this one tasted more like a bottle of peroxide.

The Crepe Au Sucre was a standard sandwich of sweetness, props for making the crepe as paperthin as it should be.

La Tropicale is a fun fest of citrus, and coconut sorbet is an awesome topper for anything. Unfortunately, like many things on Newbury, the canned fruit tasted a little too much like touristic license with a scoop of sellout.

The Au Fruits Savages was far better, boasting a berry blaze.

The thing that annoyed me even more than Newbury’s demographics was that the temperature of my food was about as frigid as a New England frost. With the kitchen a mere ten feet from my table, my crepes should have been gooey-hot enough to burn my tongue on the first bite, but they were lukewarm at best. Despite the fridge-tastic food, I remain quite fond of the Creperie on Newbury. Though the crepes are nothing special, this Creperie caters as an ideal a shopping stopover…if you can’t stop on another street. 

An American in Paris Creperie - Brookline

I’m fighting the urge to give this place an extra star for the amusingly entertaining display at the table next to mine. How this family crawled out of their trailer and into a creperie escapes me, but it made my day to hear a woman (with her two young children!) shout “HAHA I spilled water on your crotch dad so now it looks like you peed on yourself!” Did I mention that “dad” was in his 60s? Charming. Her children have an excellent role model.

Appetizer tangent before the entrees: This woman looked exactly like Tanya Harding with curlier hair. Due to my love and immense working knowledge of figure skating, I kept my knees tucked securely under the table, refrained from making eye contact with her and had my friend get our silverware just in case the baby’s rattle she was holding was a cleverly disguised hammer…too soon?

Sadly, Tanya Harding & co failed to improve the flavor of the tragically mediocre crepes so this place gets only 3 stars but is nonetheless recommended as a reasonably priced fun place to take your Francophile friends when visiting Brookline.

Crepes:

Asian Peking – Jasmine rice my a$$! It’s just regular white rice. Which is fine. Really. It’s not a big deal, I like regular white rice. But don’t lie! Geez…

Not enough hoisin sauce but the duck meat is good and it’s fun if you’re craving non-sesame chicken Chinese food but suffer from duckophobia. (Duckophobia = my personal coined term for irrational fear of Chinatown exacerbated by hanging ducks). I really should start a foodfreelancer dictionary for all my made-up terms and adjectives. Would you buy a copy if I did?

Lox & Eggs – If you like smoked salmon and you’re in the mood for something breakfast-y or brunch-y and hot, this really hits the spot. And chances are, it’s cheaper than what a diner or brunch restaurant would charge for lox. I was pretty happy…

Lemon & Sugar – BIG YUM! I prefer plain sugar but the lemon is a nice touch, especially if you’re the person who squeezes multiple lemon wedges into every glass of sweet tea (guilty!). It’s not the best crepe I’ve ever had, but who’s really going to top Paris, Grasse, Avignon, and Monaco?

I wouldn’t come back here, probably because it’s not worth the trek out to Brookline for me personally. But you should…if a crepe craving hits you. Maybe you’ll catch an even more amusing show than I did.