A Visit to Little Crêpe Street in Mount Kisco, New York
You may recall a blog I posted about a wonderful little gem of a restaurant called Little Kabab Station, located at 31 E. Main Street in Mount Kisco, New York, which is owned and operated by Bonnie Saran, who serves fantastic Indian fare. I then blogged about her next venture, located two doors down, called Little Spice Bazaar, where you can find fragrant spices, teas, and an array of Indian grocery items. But the main focus of that shop is the wonderful lassi and juice counter. Then, the space between the two premises became available and Bonnie took it over to fulfill her latest dream, Little Crêpe Street, Pardon my French! Bonnie told me of her plans several months ago and explained that she had never made a crêpe or ever had a cup of coffee. I was very happy to offer my advice and she was very happy to listen. I told her about the secret to great crêpe batter, why she should only use the freshest ingredients for the fillings, and the importance of freshly ground quality coffee beans. Since its recent opening, Little Crêpe Street has been bustling with customers who leave satisfied and smiling. Congratulations once again, Bonnie, and you’ll see me there again soon!
1 Bonnie's three side-by-side businesses - Little Spice Bazaar, Little Crepe Street, and Little Kabab Station
2 I was given a tour during the construction process. The seating area was designed to look like an outdoor cafe with an open kitchen.
3 The wonderful staff of the newly opened Little Crêpe Street - Romero, Dana, Valerie, Bonnie, Anastasia, and Carlos
4 In keeping with the outdoor theme, Bonnie brought in things one would find along a street, like this fire hydrant.
5 Layers of plaster were removed from the walls, exposing the bricks beneath. A bicycle hangs for decoration and the photos are the simple ingredients of traditional crêpe batter.
6 Lighting can be very costly, but Bonnie came up with a clever solution.
7 She purchased paint cans from The Home Depot, punched holes around the sides, painted them colorfully, and wired them as hanging fixtures.
8 There's even graffiti art on the restroom door.
9 Little Crêpe Street is warm and inviting.
10 The Little Crêpe Street - Pardon my French! menu - There's also a nice selection of freshly ground and brewed coffee and other beverages, including a fresh juice bar.
11 There are salads and savory crêpes, as well as sweet ones. The most expensive item on the menu is a smoked salmon crêpe with chive cream cheese and capers for $10.
12 The open galley kitchen is small and compact and functions very well.
13 For convenience and speed, all of the crêpe fillings are kept in refrigerated drawers right beneath the crêpe makers. This is the cheese drawer.
14 The savory ingredients drawer - All of these fillings are prepared by Bonnie's crew from the freshest ingredients.
15 Dessert crêpe ingredients
16 There are 6 salad choices on the menu.
17 Ingredients for those salads are fresh, vibrant, and within easy reach for the prep person.
18 Crêpe batter is very basic, but I told Bonnie that the secret is to refrigerate it overnight. Refrigerating the batter after it’s been mixed, “relaxes” the gluten and makes for light, airy crêpes.
19 A ladle-full of batter is poured onto the hot crêpe maker.
20 A special crêpe stick is used to spread the batter.
21 The trick is to spread it thinly and evenly without tearing.
22 In addition to traditional batter, you can choose buckwheat batter, a gluten-free rice and lentil batter, as well as a gluten-free all lentil batter.
23 The crêpes are expertly flipped.
24 And fillings are added. This will be a chicken and spinach savory crêpe.
25 It also gets sauteed onions, goat cheese, and a bechamel sauce.
26 This crêpe has a filling of crimini mushrooms, leeks, and brie.
27 The crêpes are folded over and the fillings warmed through.
28 When the fillings are warmed, the crêpes are folded again.
29 The plates are garnished nicely before serving.
30 For take-out orders, Bonnie uses biodegradable packaging.
31 This is a Mangolicious Salad made with mango, apple, tomato, pecans, local greens, and feta cheese.
32 This is the Lentil Chopped Salad, a mix of French green lentils, beets, celery, carrots, onion, and blue cheese.
33 A sweet crêpe of lemon curd, fresh blueberries, and raspberries
34 Bonnie is also very proud of this sweet creation - a chocolate grilled cheese sandwich served with strawberry Prosecco. The bread is sliced challah and the filling is brie and semi-sweet chocolate. The whipped cream garnish is freshly whipped.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
Martha, yes I recall her other two businesses blogs and the crepe business looks great. What a very unique idea to use paint buckets as light fixtures. I think the salmon crepe would be my favorite, understanding salmon is one of my favorite foods! The salads also looked yummy! Thanks for showcasing another one of Bonnie's businesses. Best of luck Bonnie.
Posted by: KLBrown | December 14th, 2012 at 1:32 am
Martha, I do remember you blogging about Little Kabob Station and Little Spice Bazaar, two wonderful business' by Bonnie Saran. What an interesting and adventurous idea for another business. I find it amusing that she had never made crepes before and especially that she had never had coffee!
I have to say Bonnie the menu for Little Crepe Street looks so good. My mouth is watering for the lentil chopped salad and veggie crepe and the Dulce de Luche crepe sounds heavenly!
I wish you much success on your newest venture and you couldn't have gotten better advice from anyone than Martha. By the way, great tip on refrigerating the batter overnight Martha!
Posted by: Cindy F | December 14th, 2012 at 6:47 am
Yummy! I love crepes. I know that little business's are the best, but I do remember a restaurant called the Magic Pan that was in our mall in the 1980's. It was a great place for lunch and dinner.
Best wishes to Bonnie.
Thanks, Martha.
Sharon
Posted by: Sharon | December 14th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Little Crepe Street is a wonderful new place to eat. I have had dinner and breakfast there and both meals were creative and delicious. I love the atmosphere, it's so different from any other restaurant in the area. Bonnie makes everyone feel welcome and she is always trying new things and loves making her customers happy. The warm maple syrup and dollop of fresh whip cream on the side of the sweet crepes puts the meal over the edge. The savory crepes are delicious and satisfying too. Good luck to Bonnie and her staff. We'll be back for more.
Posted by: PhyllisR | December 14th, 2012 at 7:45 am
A crepe place has opened in New Canaan CT - Caroline's Creperie! This is one small town, like yours, that has worked hard to maintain the small town vibe.
Posted by: Jayne | December 14th, 2012 at 8:47 am
I'll have the lemon curd crepe with blueberries and raspberries. No, make that the Lentil Chopped Salad. Everything looks so good and what a clever business woman Bonnie is! I think she has a little gold mine with those three unique establishments. Best of luck to you Bonnie! I'd be there in a flash if I lived in New York. Trish
Posted by: Trish | December 14th, 2012 at 9:04 am
Hi Martha, How great to see Bonnie Saran's wonderful 3 businesses in Mount Kisco, New York! I do recall seeing the first 2 fabulous restaurants last spring and this spring! Bonnie certainly is a brilliant lady who loves these restaurants! How fantastic that you taught her all about how to make crepes for her newest restaurant! It is fantastic and unusual to see that all three of her restaurants are next to each other on the same street in Mount Kisco!!! I love seeing these outstanding photos of the creation of the latest place, her wonderful staff, and the lovely inside of all 3 places!!! I'll bet you really enjoy going to each place and having the nicest foods! I'll bet Bonnie is getting lots of costumers and they can all decide which one to go to each time they come there! Everything that Bonnie does is very much like what you do and she is so positive and inspiring and another happy person! Sure would be fun to go there if I ever make it to New York! All of those foods look so delicious and I'm getting hungry already! Thanks for sharing these delightful tours we get to see! Hope you have another great day and a fun party on Sunday! Off to see The Daily Wag about "Holiday Decor in the Tenant House!" Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | December 14th, 2012 at 9:16 am
I love Crêpe, it looks like a nice place. In London I enjoy Creme de la Crêpe in Covent garden and the Kensington Crêperie
Have a wonderful weekend
Best wishes
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | December 14th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Great tips thank you! I have to check these shops out...enjoying the blog so much.....I counted 20 trees in the pics yesterday that were decorated fro Christmas...so not counting your exterior trees near the farm in the background. And not counting the other gold tree of the pair of gold trees in that one room. There was not a photo of the second gold tree. Enjoy your weekend and your party and guests!
Posted by: Teresa Touey | December 14th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Well Martha, you've done it, AGAIN...made me hungry.
I saw 2 of your old books today in a consignment shop and although they were a reasonalbe pruce, I still couln'st afford them.
I hope you're having a good and Godly weekend.
Posted by: Gloria | December 15th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
Well Martha, you've done it, AGAIN...made me hungry.
I saw 2 of your old books today in a consignment shop and although they were a reasonalbe price, I still couldn't afford them.
I hope you're having a good and Godly weekend.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | December 16th, 2012 at 12:01 am
Delicious looking crepes... how wonderful to have 3 successful shops all in a row! And how wonderful that you shared your crepe making skills with Bonnie.
As a young bride i used to make crepes for my husband when he returned from his evening shift at the airport. Our favorites were a savory mushroom filled one and ones filled with freshly picked raspberries...crepes are always special and fun to make/eat.
Posted by: sherey | December 16th, 2012 at 11:55 am