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PETE TITTL: Crepe expectations

BY PETE TITTL, Contributing columnist,e-mail:
ptittl@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Nov 04 2009 06:07 PM

Last Updated Wednesday, Nov 04 2009 06:07 PM

Certainly when I list what types of restaurants Bakersfield needs that it doesn't yet have, I'd include a crepe restaurant. We had one for a brief period on California Avenue near Stockdale Highway, but it quickly went away.

I think we'll have better luck with Café Crepe, a new family-run operation at the corner of Brimhall and Coffee in what was last a Great Wraps location. The folks running this place are so gentle, so kind, so charming that you can tell their customers are rooting for them to succeed. They offer both savory and sweet crepes as well as paninis, and, with a few tweaks here and there, I think they will have a fantastic product.

There are breakfast crepes, too, served with diced red potatoes that have been gently cooked, meaning they're not overly crunchy or greasy. Dare I say, they're healthy, like the side dish red potatoes you can get with the savory crepes that have a subtle presence of grilled onion mixed in. The other side dish option is a green salad notable for a tart balsamic vinegar dressing, parmesan cheese shaved so finely it was like air and a nice mix of greens.

On a dinner visit, we sampled the filet mignon Panini ($6.95), made with mushrooms, red peppers and a garlic mayo that seemed homemade. It was perfectly assembled, the beef tender, the vegetables a major plus and the ciabatta roll fresh with grill marks.

My other companion selected the chicken Caesar salad crepe ($6.95) and I chose the Philly cheesesteak crepe ($6.95). Mine was made with mushrooms, not many onions and mozzarella cheese.

The beef was a tad tough (maybe it suffered in comparison to my companion's tender beef) but it had a nice flavor. My biggest complaint with the chicken Caesar crepe was the meat used. It had bland chunks of breast meat rather than something freshly grilled, perhaps with some garlic. In the taste chorus of this crepe, it was a mute presence.

Considering the care evident in the other ingredient choices, it seemed uninspired. The romaine lettuce was as fresh as fresh can be, though, and there was a lot of it.

Save room for desserts -- both we tried were excellent: a chocolate mousse ($3.95) and a lemon delight ($3.95) filled with lemon curd and topped with blueberry sauce.

Opinions at the table were mixed about the lemon creation, some finding it a bit sweet. I thought it was a great combination. The chocolate mousse crepe was sinfully rich, and it's worth visiting just to get that. (I did notice a lot of Nutella options on the menu, too.)

The crepes, of course, are made on the spot on two grills, to order. You can see that in the open kitchen of this small restaurant.

As we mentioned, the family is so exceptionally friendly and warm that I suspect customers would flock to the place even if the food wasn't as good.

With a phone call I found out that the restaurant is owned by Andres and Emma Barragan, who have had a tax preparation business on South H Street for 17 years.

He said he's been working as a computer systems engineer for a long time, but business is slow and he and his wife had long been planning to open a crepe restaurant in town.

"It's been a lot of fun," he said. "Some customers have been here every day since we opened."

Café Crepes can be recommended for a fine dining experience.