Out with the old, in with the new. Fans of crepes – those super-thin French pancake things that can be filled or topped with pretty much anything – were no doubt dismayed when The Little Creperie, right across the street from the State House, closed for good in February. Downtown lost its only crepe shop.
But a couple months later, a new place moved into its spot: The Crepe Escape. Guess what they sell?
That’s right, one creperie was replaced by another, and the new joint has now been open since the end of April. This Food Snob never got to try The Little Creperie, so I made it a point of getting to The Crepe Escape to get in on all the French fun.
The Crepe Escape offers a modest menu of sweet and savory crepes, as well as Blake’s ice cream, homemade Pop Tarts, coffee and other cafe-type items. Truthfully, though, if you’re going to a creperie, you’re probably going for some crepes.
Being on a very strict meatatarian diet, I walked in looking only at the board of savory options. One name was hard to ignore: Porky Pig. It features pulled pork with barbecue sauce, coleslaw, pickled jalapenos and cornbread crumbles. As a general rule, if a food item has the word pig in it, it must be good, so I ordered one and took a seat by the window facing the street.
The crepe was brought over in less than 5 minutes, and it looked stunning – a big, triangular, fat crepe with a light drizzling of barbecue sauce on top and some tiny morsels of cornbread sprinkled around the side.
The first bite was absolutely loaded with savory, smoky pulled pork. I was legitimately and pleasantly surprised by the sheer volume of pork they put in this thing. The second bite was also all pork – I didn’t even get any slaw until the third or fourth (large) bite.
When I did get some coleslaw, it was a nice change of texture from the otherwise soft and kind of mushy pulled pork smothered in a crepe. The slaw was mild in flavor and acted more as a crunch booster than anything else.
The jalapenos were rare, but that was fine. When I did get one or two in a bite, they felt oddly out of place in a very sweet and savory treat. That said, the peppers did not ruin the flavor.
The cornbread bits were even more sparse, but they were brilliantly placed, adding fun little pops of sweetness here and there. Every once in a while a crumb would spill out of the crepe and I made a point of scooping it up with the next forkful.
I have to admit, I went in with very modest expectations for the savory options, having never actually had a crepe with anything other than ice cream or fruit in it or on it before, but I left feeling like nobody should ever eat a crepe with anything other than a whopping portion of smoky meat in it.
In summation, if you’re in the mood for a sweet, smoky, savory treat that won’t break the bank (less than 8 bucks after tax), give the Porky Pig a try.
The Crepe Escape is located at 138 N. Main St.
