17th Avenue Food Foray: Crepes & Cravings

After last week’s failure to investigate Crepes & Cravings, MJ and I finally managed to pay this little store a much-deserved visit. Before I start, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures – we got a little caught up with eating and talking and then we forgot… but we will definitely remember to take more as we visit Jelly Modern Doughnuts!

Location: 

Opened just last June, this cute little establishment is a mere five minute walk west from Western Canada High School. It’s located across the street from Steeling Homes and about two stores away from Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe.

Atmosphere: 8/10

Upon entering, the store itself is small and rectangular. There isn’t any music playing, but the simple, muted tones of the store take on a calm, tranquil quality while simultaneously exuding an underlying sense of everyday hustle-and-bustle as the owner prepares each order. It’s like a little bubble of adorable-ness that temporarily sets you apart from the outside world. A large portion of the store is set aside for the kitchen and gelato display, while about a quarter of the space is actually devoted to tables and seats. Even so, eating space is extremely limited. Thus, Crepes & Cravings may not be the best place to go if you’re with a large group of friends and looking for a large, sit-down eating establishment, but you can always get your crepes to-go.

Service: 10/10

The owner of Crepes & Cravings is a soft-spoken man with a quiet efficiency and passion for his work. He was extremely accommodating, making sure to cater to each of our requirements. He never made any assumptions about what we wanted; for example, when ordering the Beef Bistro wrap, I never clarified whether I wanted lettuce or spinach. He could have thrown in either and I wouldn’t have been any the wiser, but instead he took his time to ask me which vegetable I preferred. In addition, after finding out about our blogging project, he took pains to prepare each of the sweet and savoury crepes that we ordered separately (even though we ordered one of each) so that it would be easier for MJ and I to do the taste test. Furthermore, he was also really talkative and friendly, eagerly answering our various questions about his store and line of work.

Food: 10/10

Being a locally owned franchise, Crepes & Cravings sources its fruits, vegetables and cream fresh all-year round while the other ingredients are imported directly from Italy. Moreover, all of its meats are freshly carved off the roast on order.

MJ and I ordered two crepes – one sweet and one savoury. Now, I have never had a savoury crepe before, and the Beef Bistro wrap was almost enough to convince me to abandon sweets altogether. That was how good it was. A layer of delicious roast beef, gooey melted cheese and the slight crunch of spinach all wrapped up in a chewy crepe layer complete with a tangy hint of Honey Dijon mustard, both MJ and I were sighing with delight as we ate. Just when we thought that things couldn’t get any better, we tried the Old-Fashioned crepe. Eating it, which was filled with fresh (not frozen) strawberries, sweet jam, real whipped cream (not the weird slimy stuff that you get at Timmy’s) accented by a tart, flavourful cream cheese induced a rush of dopamine that threatened to clog up the blood flow in our brains.

Both MJ and I agreed that the most notable thing about both of the crepes we tried was the beautiful sense of balance – a trait rarely found in fast food establishments nowadays. For meat orders, the meat is often either a sad little flake that barely takes up one mouthful or a huge salty brick that makes you sick after a few bites. As for orders with cream and sugar, they often over-emphasize both, as producers seem to think that if they can lob on enough of each that customers will be satisfied. Which to an extent is true, but really, after trying Crepes & Cravings, you’ll probably never want to go back to that stuff again. The meat in the Beef Bistro was in just the right amount, not taking away anything from the rest of the crepe; instead of competing for the taste buds of the customer, all the ingredients work together for a delightful network of tastes. The same goes for the Old-fashioned crepe – it wasn’t loaded to the brim with whipped cream and jam, and eating didn’t induce in either of us a fear of type 2 diabetes. Rather, the focus was on the strawberries and everything else in the crepe was used to enhance, not overwhelm, the taste.

Gelato: 10/10

Yes, the gelato at this store required its own special category – and with good reason too. But before we get into that, a little information about gelato needs to be presented first. Gelato is not merely the Italian word for ice cream; there are actually fundamental differences between the two. Firstly, ice cream has a much higher butterfat content (as in cream to milk ratio) than gelato, between 10-15% whereas gelato contains 5-7%. Secondly, commercial ice creams are almost always overrun with air, ranging from 30% in the higher quality products to 100% in the lower quality 4L tubs while gelato contains an average of 10% air. This is why gelato can be served as slightly warmer temperatures than ice cream; the excess of air in the ice cream makes for a faster melting time.

Now, the gelato and Crepes & Cravings has a whopping low of 3.5% air overrun, and unlike many of the commercial ice creams, is home-made daily and in small batches. Also, the owner of the store was professionally trained by both the Italians and the French, and according to him, all the Italians who come to Calgary laud his gelato as tasting identical to the ones back home. Thus, don’t be surprised when I say that both the Vanilla Strawberry and the Peach Chauvignon (a type of white wine) that MJ and I tried were sublime. I’ll leave you to imagine what they tasted like, as I lack the necessary vocabulary to fully describe its amazingness. Sadly for us, we didn’t have time (or the money) to try all 36 flavours, but hey, as MJ said, it’ll be just another thing to add to her bucket list.

Price: 10/10

Generally between $7-$8, the crepes may have been a little on the expensive side, as was the single scoop of gelato, which was almost at $4. But given my previous ramble about how amazing everything was, do you even dare question whether or not the money was worth it?

Overall: 10/10!!

Simply put, Crepes & Cravings is a gem. A cute, locally-based franchise truly founded upon the principle of bringing the best quality products to all of its customers. Highly, highly recommended.