Restaurant review: Say hello to sweet, savory crepes at Adelle's

On the left is a half order of The Roma with turkey, tomato, pesto and Harvarti cheese and topped with the house specialty Adelle sauce. On the right is the Fire in the Hole crepe with spicy chicken, greens and Gruyere cheese with srirachia aioli for topping.

When it comes to food, I love to try new things. I've tried, especially in my more advanced years, to not carry a prejudice into any dining experience, but I have to admit to having more than a few preconceived ideas of what I'd find at a place that specializes in crepes.

I knew the flavors would be good, but I imagined first that everything would be sweet, and secondly that everything would be small. As in, I'd have to eat about two dozen of whatever I got to be satisfied. Wrong on all counts.

I've never met Adelle of Adelle's Ice Cream and Creperie, but in the interest of full disclosure, I've known her mother for more than 30 years. Adelle is the 12-year-old daughter of Carla Pritchard of Nightfall fame. It was Adelle's vision and dream to open a shop specializing in crepes after falling in love with them during family visits to England.

The shop is located inside Granfalloon, an event space on East Main Street, owned by Carla and Ken Pritchard. In addition to conceiving of the idea and creating the menu, Adelle could be found in the shop during the summer before school got back in session, helping take orders and waiting tables.

THE FOOD

I went in hungry, so that, coupled with my fear of tiny crepes, might have led to ordering two entrees, though my co-worker thinks it was because I was being nice and willing to share. Not when it comes to food.

Anyway, the crepes, which are basically light, thin pancakes for anyone unfamiliar with the term, are made from flour, milk, eggs and butter and cooked to order on one of three 16-inch crepe pans. While the crepes are cooking, the cooks add the ingredients.

At Adelle's, everything is fresh and, when possible, organic or locally sourced. All meats are antibiotic and hormone-free.

The menu features five savory crepes for breakfast or lunch, or you can build your own from a list of 15 or so items. You also get a small side salad served in a plastic to-go cup with a nice honey/lemon vinaigrette. The crepes fill up a foam to-go tray. They really are big.

The Sweet Crepes selections feature several items with Nutella as the foundation. You also can create your own. Powdered sugar, apples, pineapples, pecans, almonds, strawberries, caramel and melted chocolate are among the options.

Among the Savory Crepes, the Crowd Pleaser has ham, egg and Swiss cheese with Hollandaise sauce. The Better With Bacon replaces the ham with bacon and the Swiss cheese with Gruyere, which is similar to its Swiss cousin. The Lean, Bean & Green features black beans, spinach, red onion and Gruyere cheese plus Adelle's own special sauce.

Adelle's also offers a variety of cold drinks including Mexican Coke, San Pellegrino Sparkling orange and Rituals iced tea. Milk shakes, floats and all-natural ice cream scoops in a variety of flavors are also on the menu.

THE ORDER

I wanted to try several things, so I ordered both The Roma with turkey, tomato, pesto and Havarti cheese and a small cup of Adelle Sauce, a tangy vinaigrette-based blend, and the Fire in the Hole, with spicy chicken, greens and Gruyere cheese with a small cup of sriracha aioli.

For dessert, I got the Bee's Knees with Nutella, banana, cinnamon maple sprinkles and drizzled honey.

Like I said, I split the dishes in half and shared with a co-worker. All three items were delicious and more than enough food for two people. You can control the amount of heat on the latter by limiting how much sriracha aioli you smother over the crepe. I like it spicy.

Both of the savory crepes had just the right blend of items. The pesto didn't overwhelm the turkey, for example, and the Gruyere complemented the spicy chicken perfectly.

I can't tell you the last time I had Nutella, but it was really tasty with the bananas and honey.

THE SPACE

Granfalloon is a cool, comfortable, wide open space, and Adelle's fits right in. Since I was there early on a Tuesday, I pretty much had the attention of everyone working that morning, so the service was great.

THE VERDICT

Crepes will no longer creep me out. These were really good, and I'll be back for more.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.