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Sunday, September 30, 2012

Columbia Eats: Crepes and Croissants

The spaces inhabiting the strip on Sumter Street behind the Marriott Hotel, despite it's prime location in the downtown area has been an oasis of bad news bears. While M Cafe and Greek Boys are genuine staples of the area, everything in between has been in a losing battle for survival, Cabo Fresh Taco and Palmetto Sandwich Shop being the most recent victims. Crepes and Croissants, however, looks to change all that with incredibly authentic French cooking on the fly with some actual French cooks behind the counter. What happens when you put people who know what they are doing in the kitchen? Really damn good things.

Inside the sleek, contemporary eatery is a very lean, but ideal menu of, of course, crepes and croissants. I've been by a handful of times now, and I can confirm that the crepes are in fact, light, soft, chewy and more often then not packed with delicious things. The Greece, for example, is stuffed with a a fifth of a pound of goat cheese, with spinach and honey. The Provence comes with a light ratatouille of summer vegetables and more wonderful cheese (reasons to love the French). The sweet crepes are properly sinister and live up to their descriptions. Try the classic brown and try to tell me there isn't enough butter and cinnamon in it. Even with all of that stuffed in, the crepes are so light that you don't really ever feel like you committed a crime.

Better yet, and perhaps the reason you may want to go here on a daily basis is for something not in the cafe's namesake. Tarts. Amazing, buttery, tarts filled with incredible seasonal vegetables cooked in the right amount of butter that perhaps only a Southerner or Frenchman could understand, they definitely are well worth the visit alone. Unlike the crepes, these are every bit as filling and satisfying as you want them to be, between the pastry and wonderfully crafted ingredients packed on top of these rich tarts. Make sure you check the case when you walk in and see what's available as items are always rotating from the menu.

They've just recently started adding some weekend hours to the mix and doing brunch for the weekend crowd (something that'll be much admired when the new Main St. farmer's market opens in October). Primarily open weekdays for breakfast and lunch, if you're looking for a little change-up from your usual soup and sandwich, make the walk out to Crepes and Croissants and get a tomato tart or savory crepe. I promise, it will be worth it.

Crepes & croissants on Urbanspoon

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