As Told Over Les Crepes Brunch
Crepes always make me feel fancy. Whether it’s their elegant French background or how they’re so delicate, I just feel classy while eating crepes.
However, I felt the opposite of fancy when Cazey and I ended up at Les Crepes in Carytown last weekend. We went out for a walk and anticipated finding food along the way. When we ended up in Carytown, we considered Weezie’s, then remarked on the closing of 10 Italian Cafe and then we looked up the mighty steps and saw Les Crepes.
We have a tendency to orient ourselves toward restaurants who participate in Richmond Brunch Weekend, and Les Crepes participated last year and we never made it out, so we enthusiastically hustled up the stairs, still wearing our workout clothes.
The interior makes you feel swept away with white tablecloths, beautiful centerpieces and ornate lighting fixtures, which only helped remind me how undressed I was to be there. However, we pushed on. Our waitress immediately came over, told us about the drink specials and took our boring drink order of black coffee.
In the midst of catching up with Cazey (it had been since New Year’s!!), I tried to look over the menu. There’s one section for sweet crepes, one section for savory crepes, and a middle section with specials and breakfast crepes.
I felt overwhelmed. On one hand, I wanted a breakfast crepe because it was late morning; on the other hand I wanted a savory crepe; and on my third hand (or maybe a foot I suppose), one of those sweet crepes sounded lush. Our waitress was very attentive and came back twice while I waffled between decisions.
I was haunted by a few poor orders (like when I got a poke bowl instead of a steak salad), so I was really nervous to pick the wrong crepe. I decided I’d go savory since I was hungry and wanted protein. Once I narrowed it down, our waitress recommended the chicken crepe, which featured chicken (duh), mushrooms, avocado, onions, tomatoes and a lemongrass sauce. The waitress really sold the lemongrass sauce, and since I was brewing kombucha with lemongrass, I was in the mood.
In contrast to my indecision, Cazey immediately settled on the French crepe, which featured three eggs (!!), ham, cheese, asparagus and mushrooms. He was actually ready to order by the waitress’s first appearance, but held off (bless him).
Cazey and I mainlined some coffee, and then my salad came out (you get a side salad with savory crepes - but not breakfast crepes, Cazey will add). Despite wanting to be “healthy,” I went with the sriracha cream because it sounded so interesting. The salad featured spinach, spring mix, carrots and tomatoes. The dressing was very worth the calories and was the star of the salad show.
Soon, our crepes came out, and I was really jazzed to dig in. The crepe was large and sprinkled with cheese. I cut a big bite off and was thankful it lived up to its category: the thing was straight savory. The dressing was — as promised — stunning. I could use more avocado, but overall I really loved it. I next want to try the Queen crepe (chicken and bleu cheese) or the lobster crepe if I’m really trying to ball out. Ideally, I’d go with a someone who wants to split a savory and sweet crepe (where ya at, Ma?) — maybe the tiramisu crepe or the mousse crepe.
What I remember most about Cazey’s French breakfast crepe was how fluffy the eggs were. I’m talking tiny bites of pillow eggs. Cazey loved how much protein was packed into the meal with the perfectly paired provolone cheese and ham. Cazey suggested getting some sriracha, which would add a bit of spice to the dish, and like my need for more avocado, he was hoping for some more asparagus (we’re always greedy for the green apparently).