American Dream come true

FROM OUR KITCHENS

AMERICAN DREAM COME TRUE

Schooled at GLCI, French native brings crêpes to TC

Traverse City’s water and woods fed Vanessa Grasset’s soul. Now the native of Poitiers, France feeds Traverse City.

Grasset, a 2015 Great Lakes Culinary Institute graduate, opened Crêpes & Co., a traditional French creperie, in the State Street Marketplace in 2018.

“I wanted to do something French, but not fancy,” she said. Her most popular item, the ham, egg and cheese crêpe, is exactly that.

BUCKWHEAT DOUGH

16 oz buckwheat flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups water

1 teaspoon honey (liquid)

1 cup water

2 cups water, as needed

In a bowl, combine flour, egg, salt and honey. Add 2 cups of water. Mix until smooth by hand making sure the flour is all dissolved (no lumps). Add 1 cup water and mix again, making sure there are no lumps. Tap dough with the flat of your hand until it makes bubbles (or beat with paddle on speed 6 if you use a mixer).

Let the dough rise for at least 2 hours. At this stage the dough can be kept in a closed container up to 3 days in a refrigerator. When ready, add remaining water to thin to the desired consistency.

For a 16" cast iron, use a 4 fl. oz. ladle for 1 galette (buckwheat crêpe).

The restaurant is the culmination of a nearly decadelong dream to live in northern Michigan. A former exchange student downstate, Grasset visited her host mother up north in 2006 and had decided to live here by 2011. A student visa made it possible, and she enrolled in GLCI, which became her second home.

“Great program, great teachers,” said Grasset, 46. “It’s because of the restaurant classes that I got comfortable being in a professional kitchen.”

Grasset’s buckwheat crêpe dough recipe may be filled with the sweet or savory fillings of your choice. N

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