Few foods boast the versatility of a crêpe: Eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Fill them with sweets or savories. Roll them. Fold them. Fry them. Gluten-free, gluten-loving? No problem.
Given the crêpe's polymorphic qualities, the Leonard family hopes Weaverville — and Asheville —will enjoy the pastry often. The family of four opened The Crêperie and Café of Weaverville last week.
They're recent transplants to the area. In December, they relocated from Ft. Myers, Fla., where they operated a food trailer that served sweet crêpes.
Jake remembers when they first took notice of the pastries: “We were in Colorado, and it was a tiny little town, and a blizzard's going on,” he says. “Snow's going down. There was this little wagon that was kind of permanently parked, and there were six or seven people standing in line for crêpes.”
Luckily, the Leonard's have a cozy café, so no one will have to stand out in the snow.
The menu includes pliable, sweet, roll-up crêpes and crispy (but not fried) savory varieties, in addition to paninis, sandwiches, coffee, tea, wine and beer.
Ellie, 14, looks forward to helping in the restaurant behind the coffee bar. Her favorite crêpes include a Greek yogurt and fruit variety as well as a chocolate-filled one. Her brother, Cuyler, 16, prefers sandwiches to crêpes. He likes the Cuban, which features pulled pork instead of deli meat.
Sweet fillings include classics, such as Nutella, cinnamon-sugar, cream cheese and fresh fruit. Savory varieties feature a variety of meats, eggs, cheeses and a rotating cast of vegetables, including asparagus, brussels sprouts and mushrooms.
The Leonards have carefully decorated the restaurant by hand. They've covered all the chairs and tables with a variety of vintage fabrics, ranging from floral to burlap, and painted the walls pale blue. The space features a small, open kitchen, and a long communal table runs down the center.
In a corner, Stephanie has set up a small vintage clothing boutique, which adjoins the antique store next door. “I love to reuse and repurpose and recycle,” she says. “Up-cycle, before I knew that's what it was called.”
The restaurant will host musicians regularly; one of the baristas doubles as an accordion player. Live artwork, Stephanie hopes, will take place on occasion. “We're not necessarily [a French restaurant], but a big thing over there is sketch artists,” she says. “I would love to hire sketch artists to sit here like a fly on the wall and sketch the guests as they're eating and just walk over and give them a parting gift.”
The Crêperie and Café of Weaverville, 113 N. Main St., Weaverville, opens Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visit the restaurant's Facebook page.
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