I don't like wraps. I guess other people must, because wraps are everywhere — wrapping ham and Swiss that would be better between two slices of good soft bread, wrapping eggs and bacon for breakfast. . . Just about anywhere you go to order a sandwich, you are told that you can have a wrap instead. I guess the idea is that the wrap material, whatever it is, is so hard and stiff that you can eat while driving. Wonderful, except that it's like eating cardboard. Give me a warm soft crepe any day over a wrap.In this country, people seem to think of crepes only in terms of the flaming dessert Crepes Suzette, served at fancy French restaurants. But in France crepes are eaten for a quick breakfast or lunch snack, from Mama et Papa cafes or even from street stands where the crepes are made fresh while you watch.
Crepes may be either sweet, as in topped with ice cream or Nutella or jam — or savory, as in filled with ham and cheese, or even a warm egg for breakfast.
In Providence, there are two places where you can get good crepes for breakfast: the Rue de l'Espoir on Hope Street, and the Creperie, which is a little hole-in-the-wall on Fones Alley, just off Thayer Street.The Rue (shown here in an illustration from its web site) is a bistro-style restaurant that has been an East Side favorite for more than 30 years. You can get a bacon, egg, and cheese crepe (as shown in the top photo here), or a number of sweet crepes.
The Creperie is more of a student hangout, open from 10 a.m. to midnight or later every day. There are only a few stools inside, but the crepes are authentically French, available in dozens of varieties (above, in photo), and you can watch them being made while you wait.
Read more about Providence breakfast places in the Providence Journal's Weekend section this Thursday.
