I’m hesitant to call myself a crepe expert, mostly because I don’t think consuming 42 crepes* in a lifetime is sufficient. Maybe I should go with crepe enthusiast. I think I’ll re-do my business cards.
The laundry list of crepes I’ve eaten – good or bad – reads like a travel guide to French street food. “On the hill” in Montmartre, “from the grumpy lady on Rue Cler,” “in the Geneva airport.” I’ve eaten sweet ones, savory ones, ones with butter only, ones with egg and cheese and a pile of veggies. I’ve had them wrapped over a mountain of blueberries, covered in banana slices and filled with bacon. I’ve had food poisoning from crepes, sugar highs from too-sweet crepes and professed love over and to crepes.
In a funny way, crepes define most of my time spent on non-U.S. soil.
And yet, I’ve never figured out how to eat one gracefully. Maybe I should skip the new business cards.
But no matter my love affair with crepes, I’m here to say that there are monster crepes lurking around Downtown Phoenix. Not exactly stalking you around corners or riding the Light Rail, but more like hunkered down in The Strand Urban Italian kitchen. They’re there. All eight of them. Just waiting. Hoping to catch you.
I ordered one of those crepes today. The Sausage and Mushroom, to be precise. Wrapped like a burrito and, essentially, a potato, egg, cheese, mushroom and sausage burrito in a crepe shell, after eating it at 10:30am I no longer needed lunch. My colleague, much wiser, opted for a sweet variety filled with pears, nuts and cheese. Hers was also burrito-like, just not as massive.
Let me say this about those crepe-burritos. They were delicious. The savory one had creamy eggs, crispy sausage and a good balance between the flavors. The Fruit and Nut crepe rode the sweet-savory line to perfection.
Go ahead and let these crepes catch you. They’re perfect to-go or enjoyed at The Strand’s gleaming Italian-inspired bar. Welcome to breakfast. Have a crepe.
If you go: Through July 13th, all crepes at The Strand Urban Italian are just $2. They’re only available during breakfast, 7 a.m. – 11 a.m.
*That I can remember, maybe I’ve eaten more crepes?