During the pandemic, I’ve been trying to buy food from local businesses instead of dining at chain restaurants. Though I admittedly do enjoy the fare at a lot of chain restaurants (I have unironically raved about the chicken noodle soup at Cicis Pizza and strawberry poppy seed salad at Panera #NotASponsor #ButIAmOpenToBeingaSponsor #JK #ActuallyNotReally), it would depress me if all of the locally-owned restaurants went out of business and if every night, I found myself asking, “Should I order a small pizza from Pizza Hut or one from Domino’s?” (Never a bigger pizza because why would my perpetually single self ever need to order a medium pizza? #ForeverAlone)
The local business that I am highlighting today is La Crepe Bakery & Café in Berea, Ohio. I have gone here a number of times because it’s a short walk away from the local library, where I write (or more accurately, scroll through social media for hours with occasional spurts of typing words). It’s a nice little café with a Parisian vibe (or at least this uncultured American’s idea of Parisian. Full disclosure — the furthest I’ve ever traveled is Canada). The staff is always friendly and pleasant. But even if they were rude, I would still come here for the delicious crepes. I love the savory goat cheese crepe, but due to my body’s unwillingness to accept lactose, I don’t get it too often because I always feel guilty about wrecking the restroom, which is nice and spacious and doesn’t deserve the wrath of my lactose-intolerant bowels. Too much information? Too bad. I’m going to give loads of unsolicited information in these restaurant reviews/essays!
Today, I ordered the chicken Florentine crepe. Due to the presence of cheddar, it still doesn’t quite agree with my lactose sensitive body, but afterwards, I wreak much less havoc in the café’s restroom.
I also ordered a latte macchiato. Admittedly, I enjoy my coffee like I enjoy my men —on the very sweet side. In college, my friends would look at me in horror as I dumped loads of cream and packets upon packets of sugar in my coffee. “Your coffee looks like soy milk,” one of them remarked on one occasion.
(Fun fact — during my last dental exam, my dentist informed me that I had 8 new cavities)
So it’s quite something that I found the latte macchiato drinkable and even pleasant with only two measly packets of brown sugar. My easily amused self was tickled pink when I saw the brown sugar heart on top of the foam, which was rich and complemented the strong — but not bitter — coffee.
But of course the real star of my breakfast was the chicken Florentine crepe.
If you feel like being creepy and/or care about the process of making crepes, you can watch the chef cook your crepe on the Blackstone griddle. Because I feel creepy watching people work and I’m an uncurious philistine, I took a seat and scrolled through social media. I could be productive and write smut in my notebook, but why would I do that? 😏
(Note to self — read more articles and books on increasing productivity)
When the chef brought the crepe to me, I took a picture (see above). Then I dug in and mouthgasm.
Wrapped inside the warm and fluffy crepe were pieces of flavorful rotisserie chicken, melted cheddar, spinach, and sautéed mushrooms. The crepe also came with a cup of creamy béchamel sauce, which I generously drizzled over the crepe. As always, the crepe was delicious, and I enjoyed every bite.
And was it worth the future lactose-induced events in the restroom?
Definitely.
If you’re ever in the Cleveland area and hungry for a crepe, here is La Crepe Bakery & Café’s website.
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