Our second market season in Waterloo, IA is officially over. It's getting cooler outside and Ana (our crepe chef and helper) is back on the volleyball court. Audrey started a full-time job. Jason is happy to sleep in on Saturday mornings. So, what is next for us? Well, read below to learn all about our vision for the future. It may be premature to put our dream out there but, we wanted to invite you in and show you what kind of impact we can have together. This is our most vulnerable and personal post... and I (Audrey) am a bit scared, I admit. :-)
How It All Started!
I (Audrey) love making food for people. Moving to Iowa from France, I wanted to offer something different; something that aligns with my French upbringing and preference for nourishing, whole foods. After convincing my husband Jason, we began our crepe adventure at the Waterloo Urban Farmers Market in the Summer of 2022. I taught myself how to use professional crepe makers and developed recipes for savory and sweet crepes which I made right in front of you. I saw how fun it was to come up with new seasonal menus!
I also practiced many flavors and fillings for crepe cakes which are very trendy and high-end.
These are hard to find in this area and we plan on selling them in-house also by the slice.
We also explored several concepts for catering with dessert tables for weddings, sweet crepe bars, crepe stations and even, tiered wedding crepe cakes. (Yikes!) We have received great feedback and my confidence has definitely grown. This means that we have found what we love and we are committed to giving it our best effort.
We Want a Restaurant!
For a while, we weren't sure what we wanted our crepe business to be.
Should we do private catering for events? Get a food truck? Start small with a space?
We had too many questions and too few answers. I was hesitant to start something right away.
So, I decided the next step was to learn more about the food industry, management and test our capacity for more work.
I have worked for several local food businesses and am now working full-time at Culvers.
This is a valuable opportunity for me to learn about their processes and the local food culture. Whatever I get to do there, I am always thinking and observing.
It is also giving me time to refine my vision which is: to feed people with whole foods.
This means that a crepe restaurant is in our future! We don't know where, when or how. BUT we are working for it every day.
Savory and sweet crepes will continue to be our main thing with both gourmet and simpler choices available. We also plan on bringing complementary items such as coffee, tea, soups and salads. All made in-house from fresh ingredients, never frozen. That is a non-negotiable in our book!
More Than What We Do!
There is always a story and a compelling reason behind what we do and how we do it. Without it, I wouldn't get up at 5 am on Saturdays to go to the market. I would not be taking orders to cars or filling subs. For close to 15 years, I have had a very restrictive diet due to autoimmune issues. Over the years, my food sensitivities have increased to the point that I had to avoid all grains, corn, rice, soy, tomatoes, bell peppers, sugar, soy, caffeine, chocolate, any high carb. foods, dairy etc... I remember sitting at a restaurant, (starving!) with no food I could eat, other than lettuce. Very few restaurants can serve people who eat gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, AIP, Paleo, low sugar and even Keto. These are the people we want to have at our table!
This means that in our restaurant, we will have dedicated crepe makers for gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan crepes. We will work hard to develop recipes (and processes) that are compliant with a variety of diets.
Provide a Meaningful Experience!
We have also observed that people are craving connection. After Covid, our schedules got full again but we haven't built back the relationships we had. We are busy, we want to eat fast, do more. And we are disconnected. We know that a good business sells solutions more than products.
So, we ask ourselves "What can we bring that is different and authentic?" What does this community need? What isn't being done consistently?
We want to provide a space where people can feel special. They know they are seen and valuable. They can gather to celebrate and try new things, swap stories etc...
This means that along with our French cuisine, we want to create experiences where kids and adults can make new memories through our "French & Fun" monthly events. We hope to give something educational, fun and new for everyone.
Promote a Culture of Celebration! Every year, our girls really look forward to having a birthday party. We decorate our house, make invitations, prepare yummy foods and plan an afternoon of fun activities. I love doing that kind of thing, but it's ... work!!
Every year, it gets harder to find the time to decorate, clean the house, find ideas for a buffet table, make invitations, prepare all the food and find room in our small house (and yard) for all the guests. It gets pretty expensive too! The other venues may not always fit our preference, calendar or our budget. We know this is also true for many other families.
This means that we will plan for an event room in our restaurant with several packages available with decoration and your choice of a crepe cake, dessert bar, a crepe station or a sweet crepe bar. We have quite the collection of serving ware too, dishes etc...
We will make it nice and easy for you to host your next smaller event at a reasonable cost. We make all treats with quality ingredients, and nothing artificial (unless requested.) We guarantee a flawless presentation that meets our high standards.
So, now you know what we are up against! Finding a place is not going to happen overnight. We will need wisdom, time, funds, support and there is much learning to be done. We are so, VERY thankful to our loyal customers for their support at the market.
There are several ways you can continue to show your support: follow and share our posts on Facebook, order a crepe cake, book a dessert table or crepe bar (please, book 4 months ahead of time)... If you have expertise in any field that might be relevant such as marketing, POS systems, commercial real estate, graphic design, website building etc... please, let us know! This journey of many steps is giving me wings and is also very healing for my heart. Instead of looking at what I can't do, I keep taking small steps forward. I am building my confidence and experiment with new things. Some work and others don't, but all is progress. We hope you will be inspired to start your own venture, regardless of your limits!
If you could bring something different to the Cedar Valley, what would it be? Let us know in the comments below.