Amadine Fevrier of Mt. Lebanon spent nearly every summer of her childhood in the Brittany region of France. At the rear of the family’s property is a centuries-old “little house” where Fevrier’s grandmother would make the region’s traditional Sunday lunch: a heaping stack of savory — not sweet — crêpes known as galettes.
“A lot of U.S. restaurants will call these ’savory crêpes’ because Americans think of the cookie or the open-faced pie when they hear ‘galette,’ “ explained Fevrier, 36, the daughter of a French-born chef.
When Mel’s Petit Café opened in Mt. Lebanon on Tuesday, Fevrier was pleasantly surprised to see the Brittany region’s paper-thin specialty on the French café’s menu, complete with its native moniker.
Made on two plaque à galettes — or flat cast-iron griddles — Mel Streitmatter, owner of the café, pours and smooths batters for the litany of sweet and savory crêpes served for dine-in or to-go at the new restaurant.
Streitmatter, a native of the Burgundy region of France, moved to Mt. Lebanon with her husband and small children in 2012 when her mother-in-law decided to make Pittsburgh her new home. A library scientist by trade, Streitmatter learned the art of crêpe and galette-making as a child from her grandmother and great-aunt, who resided just outside Brittany.
Buckwheat flour is what defines the galette, giving it a tan hue and unintentionally creating a gluten-free crêpe alternative. That one substitution, however, makes galette-making an art form of its own.
Fevrier’s father began his chef apprenticeship in Lyon, France’s second-largest city, at the age of 13. He was required to master every distinct skill expected of a classic French chef, though galette-making was not on that list. When Fevrier’s grandmother finally decided to pass down the skill, the learning curve was steep, even for the accomplished chef.
“She was showing him, and it was constantly, “Raté, raté, raté,’ because if you don’t spread it exactly, you get holes in them. They’re too thick, you can’t flip them, and they’re not good,” said Fevrier. (Raté, she explained, means “missed firing,” and identifies an unfixable culinary error.) “The buckwheat flour, it’s really hard to work with. It takes practice to get your wrist used to the movement.”
Mel’s Petit Café serves four styles of galettes, including La Complète. It includes ham, Swiss cheese and an egg that is broken in the center of the galette and cooked until the white is just barely set. The pancake is folded in four times toward the center, creating a square window through which the sunny-side up egg is visible. At Mel’s, galettes are served with a small pile of field greens and housemade vinaigrette.
Four varieties of sweet crêpes are also made to order at Mel’s: whipped cream only, berry jelly, Nutella or the autumnal applesauce/cinnamon/salted caramel. Rather than a buckwheat-based batter, this variety is composed of white flour, sugar, milk, eggs and butter.
As with European crêperies, Mel’s dishes contain one crêpe or galette, which promises to leave diners plenty full. But, Brittany-region Sunday brunches are more like galette-eating contests.
Fevrier’s mother, who is rather slight in stature, has a personal record of 60 galettes in one sitting.
“You eat the first couple with just butter, then a few with ham and cheese, some with sausages once the plaque is really going. Then some with egg, then the sweet ones,” said Fevrier.
Mel’s Petit Café is just a few blocks away from the Mt. Lebanon location of La Gourmandine. Streitmatter has no intention of creating direct competition for the acclaimed French bakery.
“Having them around is good because it shows that people are open to trying French cuisine, and it’s a small area so they could come for a coffee here and go down there for a croissant,” said Streitmatter.
“They do their thing really well. So, we want to do our thing really well, too.”
Mel’s Petit Café is located at 431 Cochran Rd in Mt. Lebanon.
Abby Mackey is a Tribune-Review contributing writer. You can contact Abby at abbyrose.mackey@gmail.com or via Twitter.
Categories: Allegheny | Food & Drink | Lifestyles | Local | South Hills Record | Top Stories
"cafe" - Google News
October 22, 2020 at 07:54PM
https://ift.tt/37sQUpX
Mel's Petit Café crepe place opens in Mt. Lebanon - TribLIVE
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FkbMR3
https://ift.tt/3c4yPxW
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25244079/4.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment