In my quest to unearth new vegan options on the Peninsula, I happened across Crepe Stop in San Carlos. Since their website explicitly lists "Vegan GF Batter" as an option, it seemed pretty promising. I rolled up to Laurel Avenue, which seemed pretty poppin' for a Tuesday morning (but as a full-time school teacher, what do I know about the happenings of small mid-Peninsula cities on a weekday? Summer vacation, please don't ever end), and headed for The Crepe Stop.
Inside, I was greeted by rows and rows of Nutella jars, as well as a Parisian skyline decal on one wall, with a cute, blue neon sign proclaiming, "I love the crepe out of you." I peeked at the menu for a few minutes, as the man working behind the counter seemed busy putting together an order, but when he told me I could order any time, I asked what could be made vegan.
"I can make anything vegan," he said.
WHAT. This was great news, so I asked about the cheese.
"I have vegan cheese. Mozzarella."
Amazing. And the pesto?
"I don't think so," he said.
Less amazing, but still, I ordered the Artichoke Heaven with vegan cheese, minus the pesto. I guess we could call it Artichoke Purgatory, because vegan pesto would be have been so good on this crepe.
For funsies, I decided to ask about the sweet crepes, and again he said he could make anything vegan. Given the jars and jars of Nutella, I was skeptical, and since many of the crepes listed "butter" as an ingredient, I asked if it would be replaced.
"I use butter," he said.
"Doesn't butter have dairy?" I asked. (Duh. Of course butter has dairy, but this is, for whatever reason, what came out of my mouth.)
"I don't know," he said.
Well, shit. It doesn't inspire a ton of confidence when the person making the food doesn't actually know what "vegan" means, but the savory crepe did appear to be actually vegan, so I went ahead with it. $17 and I left a tip, because working in the food service industry sucks, and everyone deserves a living wage.
When it was delivered to my table, it came in a cute cardboard holder. It was decent at the top (would have been better with some vegan pesto, just saying), and quite good toward the bottom where all of the goodies were hiding at the base of the little crepe pocket.
After eating, I wandered back near the door and considered checking out the gelato case, but figured it wouldn't be worth it since the guy working didn't really seem to understand what I was looking for. Overall, it does seem that you can order a wide variety of veganized crepes, both savory and sweet, although the lineup is going to be considerably smaller than the not-vegan menu, as it doesn't appear they have substitutions for some of the traditional ingredients (but THANK YOU for carrying vegan cheese! That is definitely a good start), like butter, nutella, or eggs. It doesn't seem that any of their panini are vegan, and I didn't bother asking about boba or gelato.
Overall, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Some vegan options are better than no vegan options, and what I had was good (maybe not $17 good, but I guess inflation is really killing everyone, amiright?).
3 out of 5 fruit bats.
No comments:
Post a Comment