Crepes Cafe in Menlo Park, California

[Guest guest]

We just had buckwheat crepes this afternoon at this café, and oh my

goodness! They were absolutely delicious! I first heard about this

café on a website or group (maybe here?) and wanted to check it out.

Their brochure states that the buckwheat mixture is gluten-free.

When we first walked in, I was little dismayed to see bits of

crumbly flour all around their crepe machines. I was assured the

buckwheat mixture only went on the buckwheat crepe maker and the

whole wheat mixture went on the whole wheat crepe maker. Their

savory crepes are served on buckwheat crepes, and their sweet crepes

are usually served on whole wheat crepes. Their website is

crepescafe and then .com.

After confirming with the cook that the Chicken Dijon sauce had no

flour in it, we ordered the Savory Chicken with carmalized onions

and added some mushrooms. We also ordered the Sweet Mixed Berry

Crepe with whipped cream, but had them put the fruit on the

buckwheat crepe instead of the whole wheat crepe. It was absolute

heaven! The crepes were soft and delicious! I cannot vouch for any

of the other fillings for the crepes, just the ones we enjoyed. So,

if you choose to eat at this café, be sure to ask the right

questions. As we know, eating out is risky.

P.S. If you want me to e-mail you a pdf of the color brochure, I'll

be glad to do so. Just e-mail me at susan.hersom@....

Sue

[Guest guest]

Before going gluten free I was a regular customer at Crepes Cafe.

SInce going gluten free I have been there a few times, and each time I

go I get a different story on cross contamination. The owner will tell

you that they use two different machines, one that is dedicated for

just buckwheat and one that is just for flour. I had a long

conversation with him about it and he assured me the buckwheat crepes

were never made on the flour machine. Well I have been back twice and

each time the staff told me that honestly they don't segregate the

machines for different reasons like they get busy at times and have to

use both interchangeably. I have watched them use the flour one with

buckwheat and whether or not they use the machine that is dedicated

just for buckwheat depends on whose making the crepe. I think the

owner has the best intentions, but some of his staff don't follow his

rules. When I mentioned it to a younger guy working there once he said

he could clean the machine and proceeded to chip off some crepes bit

with his frying pan.

I think the best thing to do would be to let the owner know that some

his staff are doing cross contamination and he seemed knowledgeable

enough about gluten and he will take care of it. He wasn't been around

the last time I went - maybe I can track down an email.

[Guest guest]

I hope to be talking to Nick today regarding the soup base, so I

will definitely relay your story to him. He does have the best of

intentions, but I had to explain to him the cross contact issues.

He sounded a little amazed that my husband and I have separate

toasters, separate cutting boards, etc.

He told me last night that he has one crepe maker for the whole

wheat sweet crepes and four for the buckwheat savory crepes (they

sell more savory crepes than sweet crepes). I can see that if his

staff is not properly informed of how critical it is to keep the

batter separate and if the restaurant got really busy, the staff

would use all of the crepe makers without a thought.

Sue

>

> Before going gluten free I was a regular customer at Crepes Cafe.

> SInce going gluten free I have been there a few times, and each

time I

> go I get a different story on cross contamination. The owner will

tell

> you that they use two different machines, one that is dedicated

for

> just buckwheat and one that is just for flour. I had a long

> conversation with him about it and he assured me the buckwheat

crepes

> were never made on the flour machine. Well I have been back twice

and

> each time the staff told me that honestly they don't segregate

the

> machines for different reasons like they get busy at times and

have to

> use both interchangeably. I have watched them use the flour one

with

> buckwheat and whether or not they use the machine that is

dedicated

> just for buckwheat depends on whose making the crepe. I think the

> owner has the best intentions, but some of his staff don't follow

his

> rules. When I mentioned it to a younger guy working there once he

said

> he could clean the machine and proceeded to chip off some crepes

bit

> with his frying pan.

>

> I think the best thing to do would be to let the owner know that

some

> his staff are doing cross contamination and he seemed

knowledgeable

> enough about gluten and he will take care of it. He wasn't been

around

> the last time I went - maybe I can track down an email.

>