COME FOR THE CREPES
New bistro offers a taste of Brittany
“In Brittany, there is a creperie on every corner,” says Stephane Le Berre. “But in Calgary there are only two in the whole city.” So Calgary was the obvious place for the crepe entrepreneur to open Breizh Bistrot. Breizh, which is the Breton word for Brittany, is a bright, 50-seat spot at 311 17th Avenue S.W. (403452-0665.) (Look for a small patio to be added out front come summer.)
Le Berre was a regional sales manager for a large company in France but was drawn to the delights of the flat, savoury and sweet pancakes of his area. So he left his job and studied crepemaking with a master crepe chef with the thought of opening his own restaurant. The challenge was to find the right location.
A visit to his brother Florent, who lives in Calgary, set Le Berre’s mind in motion. He quickly fell in love with the city and the area and decided that his creperie would be set in Calgary. He found a spot on 17th Avenue, invited his sister Clemence and her husband Dorian Allio to join him and also brought in friend and fellow chef Gilles Oger, who had run a creperie in Normandy for more than 20 years.
As he and his group set about renovating the former Sal’s Flatbread, he also searched for the right buckwheat flour to make his galettes. He called friends in Brittany whose crepes he liked and they told him the best buckwheat flour comes from Quebec. So Le Berre was set.
Breizh has a simple black-andwhite tone in keeping with the Gwenn-ha-du, the flag of Brittany which hangs proudly on one wall. Translated as “white and black,” the Gwenn-ha-du has nine horizontal black-and-white stripes with a canton of nine black ermine skins on a white field.
The menu includes a list of savoury galettes such as the bacon-mushroom-onion Forestiere, the smoked salmon-creme fraiche Novegian and the hameggGruyere Complete, all folded into large buckwheat crepes. On the dessert side, there are crepes of house-made caramel and salted butter, caramelized apple (with more caramel) and one smeared with Nutella. Galettes range from $17 to $22 while crepes run $9 to $14. And they can all be had with a cup or two of Brittany apple cider.
For Le Berre, his crepes must be made with the best and freshest ingredients possible so that, with the Gwenn-ha-du hanging overhead, he can bring the most authentic Brittany crepe experience possible to his customers.
After more than a decade in retirement, a familiar restaurateur has returned to the local dining scene. Winnie Sit, with her son Eric, has opened OMO Teppan & Kitchen at 5222 Macleod Trail S. (403-764-3222). The address will be familiar to many because Sit opened Home Food Inn there in 1993 and ran it for many years. Sit owns the property and leased it out to tenants — most recently The One — following her retirement. But when her most recent tenant left, she and Eric came up with the idea to open a new, different place.
OMO has three meanings. Omotenashi means hospitality. Omoshiroi means interesting and entertaining. Omoide means memorable. The Sits intend all three to be served in abundance at their new restaurant.
To achieve a new level of “omo,” the Sits renovated their building, adding nine new teppan grill tables where the food is cooked in front of you. The tables have built-in fans that take the smoke away before it filters into the room.
The grills are used to prepare fine Alberta beef along with both Japanese Wagyu and Kobe beef cuts. Wagyu, literally “Japanese cow” includes four breeds — Japanese black, brown, polled and shorthorn — that are genetically predisposed to fat marbling. Kobe beef is from Japanese black cattle raised according to the rules of the Kobe Beef Marketing Association. Only about 3,000 head of Kobe cattle are raised each year so the meat is very expensive.
At OMO, you can have a sixounce, Canada AAA, teppangrilled New York for $27, a four-ounce Wagyu cut for $68 or a four-ounce Kobe piece for a bracing $138. Note: each of these meals comes with soup, salad, a couple shrimp, rice, vegetables and ice cream. OMO is the only restaurant in Alberta and one of only four in Canada to serve true Kobe beef.
In addition to the teppan treats, OMO offers a full range of udon, tempura, gyoza and sushi. There are also Wagyu sliders and rolls and a range of combo dinners along with premium sakes and teas.
And what of the little food booth that sits in OMO’s parking lot? Sit says that various entrepreneurs are vying for the spot and she hopes to announce a new tenant soon.