Under the bright lights of Center City is an unassuming restaurant, La Creperie Caf‚, known for the finest crepes in town. The relatively barren walls are scattered with a few paintings, namely of the Van Gogh and Picasso variety, adding an artificial touch of France to downtown Philadelphia.
Owner and manager Marietou Fanny, who makes each and every crepe by hand to perfection, has quite a few concoctions to offer for the crepe aficionado.
La Creperie features quiches, les savoureuses (seafood delight) and les rebelles (pizza crepes), with prices ranging from $4-15.50. Specialty crepes include the La Royale Chicken, which contains slices of chunky chicken breast, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, onions and a light sprinkling of basil. For a more inventive combination, try La Pomoplie, a mixture of turkey, goat cheese, apples and roasted almonds.
A novel take on the classic dessert crepe, La Chouette is a combination of strawberries, crŠme fraiche, sugar and creamy coulis de chocolat, pushing the traditional nutella into the backseat. If ice cream and crepes sound like a creation long overdue, try the menu-favorite Bonaparte, including all of the above, with roasted almonds, pear and nutella. L'Americaine takes a favorite American lunch ingredient -- peanut butter -- and blends it with bananas and nutella, swirling it into one sinful combination. Upon dissection, it's an unsightly pile of mush and cream, but despite the fact that it is slightly sweeter than necessary, the tasty, flaky crepe covering -- which tastes like a thinly sliced, fine-tuned pancake -- makes it a distinctive and worthy dish.
If you like diversity in crepe selection and are willing to put up with a long wait and a relatively inattentive staff, La Creperie can provide you with a delicious, out-of-the-ordinary treat. If you're short on time, however, try Houston Hall's La Petite Creperie -- you can save cab fare while you're at it.
