The best way to describe a crepe is a very thin pancake.
The major difference is there is no leavening agent, which keeps a crepe flat – so it’s not a pancake.
You can thank Christina Hoppe and Melina Ambargis for that little tidbit of knowledge. They’re the owners of The Little Creperie at 138 N. Main St. that opened about a month ago.
And like with any new eatery in Concord, we had to check it out and report back to you.
Now, we had never been to a creperie before and logged many meals that included crepes. But we will moving forward.
A crepe batter needs to sit for a certain amount of time before using, so it’s not exactly something you make on the fly, and at the same time don’t want to make too much and then have to throw it away. So that’s why they’re technically open Wednesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., but sometimes they run out.
There’s lots of choices in the crepe department. There’s savor ones like The French Bird with shredded chicken, scallions, roasted mushrooms and mornay. The Fancy Pig, which has local bacon, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, arugula and pesto.
In the savory department, you can get The Favorite with Nutella and banana; The Blueberry or The Strawberry or The Classic, that’s got lemon juice, butter and sugar. And typically there are also specials.
We went with the blueberry, which was topped with a delicious blueberry sauce and fresh blueberries and a generous amount of powdered sugar.
We didn’t finish all the blueberries, but everything else was devoured. That was one delicious very thin pancake.
But that wasn’t all we had to eat one morning last week. We had also heard from a well respected source that The Little Creperie made the best waffle this person had ever had.
Sounded like a challenge. And unlike our lack of history with crepes, we’ve eaten lots of waffles over the years.
And we have to say, this one ranks right up there. We could have gone out of the box with the banana bread waffle, Chicken in a waffle, bacon on a waffle or Funfetti with vanilla glaze, but we had to go old school traditional. That’s the only way to tell just how good the waffle is.
We got it with strawberries and syrup (on the side) and a dollop of whipped cream.
It was so light and fluffy, it didn’t even need butter. There were the perfect amount of strawberries and probably could have eaten another.
Menu prices range from $5.50 to $9, and they also serve mimosas on the weekends. And we have to go back to try the waffled mac and cheese. It’s mac and cheese shaped by a waffle iron.
You can watch everything being made right in front of, which is cool except when they mess up according to Ambargis.
Yes, this is the outdoor eating issue so we must make mention of the fact they do have a few tables to enjoy your crepe (or waffle) in the sunshine, and plan on getting a few more.
And we definitely recommend giving it a try. The crepes and waffles that is. You can make the decision if you want to sit outside or not. Because to paraphrase the great Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) from Talladega Nights: I love those thin pancakes.
Check out facebook.com/ thelittlecreperienh for more.
