Folded Fun Food – Creperi Cafe

Dan says…

The Creperi has been on our radar screen for quite a while.  The Five were eating subs when we saw two familiar faces looking at the vacant space in the building that houses Intajuice and Penn Station.  I was overjoyed because I love Greek food and this couple make the best Greek Salads and chicken and rice soup I have ever tasted.  Sadly I never got to enjoy soup and salad, because due to an archaic lease the Creperi is not allowed to duplicate what is served at Penn Station. 

I need to say why this is stupid and ignorant.  Do you know why all the good restaurants open around a Wal-Mart?  You open a business where there is foot traffic to support it and Wal-Mart brings traffic.  So if you bring more traffic to that block of Kanawha City then everyone will do well.  That stupid lease hobbles the Creperi and lets Penn Station do a half way job.  The landlord would benefit from having successful businesses in the building. Rant off.

I have visited the Creperi two times recently.  Once for lunch with the crew and once for dessert with the veggie wife and offspring.  During my lunch visit I ordered the smoked salmon and gouda on a buckwheat crepe. 

This creation starts by spreading a thin batter across a well seasoned, large circular griddle.  As your crepe cooks the ingredients to fill the crepe are gathered.  Smoked salmon, creamy gouda, mixed greens, roma tomatoes and homemade greek dressing are layered onto the crepe after in has been flipped.  It is folded once, twice and then a third time to form sort of a crepe envelope.  I enjoyed this made to order creation. 

Also on this visit we ordered up a dessert crepe.  This crepe had a traditional shell filled with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and sliced almonds.  We 86′d the raisins due the “quirky” (these quotes are not for emphasis.  This is a quote) requirements of another Forker.  I enjoyed this crepe too.  How can you go wrong with brown sugar and butter?

On my second visit we had dessert for dinner.  Tracey and the girls had Belgium chocolate and fruit filled crepes.  Fresh raspberries and bananas topped with powdered sugar was a hit.  I went with a breakfast crepe. The basic crepe batter is topped with cream cheese, fresh blueberries and grape or blueberry jelly.  Now I wanted it to taste like my mom’s born jewish and converted Roman Catholic best friend’s cheese blinz.  No where close.  There was too much cream cheese for my taste.  The blueberries were nice and plump, but when I figured out that it was filled with jelly I could finish it. I think I imagined it would be made from blueberry pie filling.  Is canned blueberry pie filling a quality ingredient? Ah..no.  Does it taste good? Oh yeah!

I like the food, the service and the atmosphere, but I wish it had an expanded menu. 

 The owner told me that he and his wife were close to closing a deal to open a lunch counter downtown that they would run in addition to the Creperi.  The “Cafe Sophia” would serve soups, salad, gyros and other Greek offerings. 

If you are looking for something different for lunch or a cool dessert, try the Three Fork Cafe Creperi.

Susan says… I was concerned that just a crepe for lunch wouldn’t fill me up.  Boy was I wrong.  These things are as big as the plate. I ordered the shrimp crepe for $6.50 which came wth feta cheese, Greek dressing, mixed greens, and onion.  It was interesting to watch the batter being poured onto the crepe plate and swirled around.  The crepes are thin and delicate.

At first, I was loving my dish.  There were a lot of shrimp, plenty of crumbled, sharp feta cheese, tomatoes, onion and a pile of greens.  (And we all know I don’t like it when folks skimp on the lettuce.)  BUT….as I ate my way through the crepe concoction, the lettuce became wilty from the heat of the crepe and the dressing soaked into the bottom half of the crepe making it somewhat soggy.  By the end of it all, I was cutting off pieces of non-soggy crepe to eat along with the shrimp and feta, and leaving the wilted greens alone.

In the future, I will ask for this crepe with the greens and dressing on the side.  That way I can enjoy all the flavors and textures in combination, but keep my crepe non-soggy and my lettuce crisp.  I’ll just add this to my list of food quirks and move on with my life.

Not able to resist the yummy dessert options, the table (minus Phil) decided to order the Crepe Buena, made with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and toasted almonds, for $5.50.  As Daniel already mentioned, we passed on the raisins.  It was just as good as I thought it would be.  I would like to try one of the chocolate options with Nutella.

Here’s the perfect visit to Cafe Crepari:  bring a friend with similar taste in food, order one savory crepe to share for the entree and a dessert crepe to share afterward.  That way you don’t miss out on any of the good stuff they have to offer.

Unfortunately, there were some things that detracted from the dining experience.  Our food was served on flimsy paper plates.  The kind your mom would buy in a pack of 100 for $.99 and use at picnics with the rattan paper plate holders.  Only here, you don’t get a rattan holder.   Plastic utensils are a pet peeve of mine.  My first fork suffered a broken tine midway through the meal.  Fountain drinks are not an option, but the availability of Perrier made up for that.  French sparkling mineral water to go along with my crepe…

Don’t forget that you can visit the Creperi for breakfast – they are open 7 am – 8 pm on weekdays and 8 am – 8 pm on weekends.

I like the personal service by the Master Crepe Maker himself.  I like the menu options and wish they could offer even more (damn that lease) and the prices are reasonable.  Good tasting, unique food.  TWO FORKS.

 

Creperi Cafe

4002 MacCorkle Avenue SE
Charleston, WV 25304

304-925-4400