Weaverville, welcome crêpes: Main street gets a new café dedicated to the versatile food

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.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.