International house of crêpes: Seattle boasts French faves, wacky variations

I'll always have Paris — and memories of the guy with the tie in the crêpe kiosk on Rue Cler.

But here at home, whether I'm looking for a street snack, leisurely lunch, Sunday brunch or wine-soaked dinner, there's a crêperie to suit. At a growing number of Seattle crêpe stops, they're filling 'em up, folding 'em up and filling us up with a wider (and wackier) world of sweet and savory delights.

Unicorn Crêpes

421 Sixth Ave. S., Seattle;

206-652-0637

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, noon-6 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays.

There's a bud vase with fresh flowers on my table, Donny Osmond's crooning "Puppy Love" and a screamingly adorable guy named Jino Yoon is handing me a pepperoni-pizza crêpe disguised as a paper-wrapped bouquet.

Be still my Tiger Beat-ing heart! I'm 12 years old all over again.

Yoon and his business partners, siblings Yumu and Lia Steinman, are riding the wave of the Japanese-fusion crêpe movement with this sunny little shop in the heart of the Chinatown International District. If things go their way, by the time the weather warms, we'll be lined up around the block for takeout, as these portable crêpes are envisioned as a sidewalk snack.

And get a load of those crêpes! No, not the ones with a lighter, sweeter batter than you'll find elsewhere. I'm talking about the rubber replicas in the glass case, a show-and-tell "menu" whose fauxlicous ingredients range from straw-

berries, whipped cream, chocolate squiggles and organic custard to teriyaki chicken, tuna salad, hard-boiled eggs and chili-cheese hot dogs ($3.65-$4.99).

Leave it to the land of Hello Kitty to introduce us to such wonders as that bountiful breakfast of champions: the kooky, crunchy, texturally transporting "Corn Flake Choco Whip Crêpe." And leave it to Unicorn's trio of 20-something entrepreneurs to come up with a signature crêpe — teriyaki chicken and cabbage slaw — that so succinctly says Seattle.

I went gonzo for the vanilla-scented cream that oozes from its edible golden wrap: a custard pudding crêpe sweetened with caramel sauce — delightful with a cup of genmaicha tea ($1.89). As for that pepperoni-pizza crêpe, the flavor cries "toaster-oven pizza," yet this big seller somehow — call it puppy love? — is magically transformed into something so much better.

La Côte Crêperie

2811 E. Madison St., Seattle;

206-323-9800

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays.

Last month, in what appeared to be a blink of an eye, the teensy Madison Valley cafe and wine bar Saint-Germain closed and reopened as La Côte.

Gone was charismatic operator Jean-Michel Omnès, who took his accordion, guitar and tartine-touting menu along with him. Poof! In his place, waitresses dressed in striped Breton fishing shirts pouring mugs full of hard cider and offering other libations, including imported beers and French wines. Overseeing the menu — and the new crêperie — is French chef Laurent Gabrel, owner of the neighboring bistro, Voilà!, who'd been leasing the space to Omnès.

A handful of soups, salads and a terrific charcuterie board ($14) augment La Côte's crêpe menu, a dozen sweets made with white-wheat flour ($4-$8), and a dozen more of their savory buckwheat brethren — the classic Breton galette ($5-$11). Etienne Dupont cidre bouche brut tastes even better sipped from its logo'd mug, and you can quadruple the pleasure by springing for a bottle ($21).

"Cidre" was just the right quaff for my L'Alpine crêpe, whose hearty ingredients — including slices of creamy Yukon Gold potatoes, bits of barely-cured bacon and buttery Reblochon-style Fleur des Alpes cheese — would sooth the savage breast of the most testosterone-fueled trencherman. Enveloped in that earthy brown buckwheat galette, it's given a final crisping in butter. As is the signature crêpe La Côte, built with a delicate sauté of bay shrimp and bay scallops in a light, wine sauce. Leave room for something sweet. Perhaps a crêpe with marron (chestnut spread), or La Tatin (with sugar- and cinnamon-stoked apples), or my favorite: the simple, sensational, lemon- and sugar-infused citronnée.

Crêpe Cafe & Wine Bar

2118 N.E. 65th St., Seattle;

206-527-7147, www.crepesandwine.comHours: 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-3-p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays.

On each of my visits to Crêpe Café & Wine Bar, I've been seduced by the scent of garlic. It wafts from the recesses of a mushroom-laden "crêpe tart": a light buckwheat crêpe molded into a coffee cup, crowned with gruyere and served (the better to scoop the fragrant juices) with a soup spoon ($8.95). Garlic emanates from the open crêpe kitchen where the stinking rose meets la vie en rosé in a sauté of mushrooms and onions. Scattered with spinach, goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, this Mediterranean medley is offered up as J's Crêpe — and makes a satisfying supper ($15.95).

Ravenna neighbors flock to this charming cafe and wine bar on Tuesday nights when bottled wines, reasonably priced to begin with, are half-off. They stop by for an after-whatever French-press coffee and sweet dessert crêpe ($7.95-$10.95), and take in the sounds of American jazz standards while admiring the rotating artwork, curated by owner Alcena Plum, who's been running this show since 2005. At lunch and weekend brunch, customers create their own crêpes by adding ingredients (a la their favorite pizza joint) or choose, instead, to do the same with a panini sandwich.

The five-seat counter and a handful of bistro tables are tended by servers who chat up the regulars, help make wine selections and give the nod to such offbeat surprises as "Blame it on Rio" ($9.95 lunch, $15.95 dinner). Blame it on Rio (a south-of-the-border food-lover's answer to the question "Why eat crêpes?") marries ground chorizo, cheddar cheese, Roma tomatoes, spinach and avocado, folds it up in a sturdy rectangle, offers a side of salsa and — olé! mon frère — we've got a winner!

Saley Crêpes

1361 E. Olive Way, Seattle; 206-405-3444

Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Closed Mondays.

Aissa Diouf, chief cook and crêpe-maker, looked up as we entered her sliver of a shop and offered a smile as inviting as an embrace. A pair of crêpe griddles and her cash register sat adjacent a closet-sized kitchen while a boom box broadcasted French pop. Nothin' fussy here, where disposable plates and utensils are de rigueur, baguette sandwiches round out the menu and a friend and I settled in at one of five small tables for a leisurely lunch, happy to have this Capitol Hill cafe — with its mismatched chairs and boldly colored walls — to ourselves.

Diouf's brief crêpe list includes such unlikelies as a Polish sausage Crêpe Dog and the BLT with S(pinach) standing in for the L(ettuce). Like most of the savory crêpes ($5.75-$6.25), these come with the house crêpe sauce, whose not-so-secret ingredient is garlic-kissed crème fraîche. That tart cream was the perfect match for my Crêpe au Salmon, built with an abundance of smoked fish and garnished with Swiss cheese, spinach and diced tomato. L'original combined ham, mozzarella and spinach, whose leaves play a constant refrain among the savory crêpes.

Can't decide between a saley (savory) crêpe or sweet ($4-$4.75)? You don't have to. The bargain crêpe combo buys one of each for $7.99. The citrusy sugar and lime crêpe was sublime. Nutella? You betcha. That classic love-it-or-hate-it confection lent its cocoa-colored, hazelnut-infused richness to our dessert crêpe (loved it!).

Nancy Leson: 206-464-8838 or nleson@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/restaurants.