crêperie nicolas

my half of the galette 

i can say easily that some of the best food i have eaten this year has been street-food. i can also say that i have happily followed the trail of street-food and will go in search of it where necessary. a standard weekend favourite for o and i is the real food market at south bank. one of the regular traders crêperie nicolas is one that i've bookmarked for when the crepe craving arises. this last saturday london was ablaze with sunshine and heat when o and i met up with a and i at southbank. o and i were there to have brunch, a wanted a nibble and i needed something with a salty sharpness to blunt the rich sweet and delightful sicilian brioche breakfast at la gelatiera. i therefore enlisted a in sharing a galette. 

crêperie nicolas is a husband and wife team that operates from a cheery sixties custom citroen h van. the couple took off to brittany to perfect their crepe making and serve the classic savoury buckwheat galette with combination of cheese, meat and/vegetables. with winter and christmas season approaching i am looking forward to going back for the grand marnier and chocolate crepe. but to return to today's galette. a and i unanimously settled on an emmental and spinach one. i love the piquancy of emmental. its slightly more robust character than cheddar stands up well against the nuttiness of buckwheat and works well with galettes. gill wyles adds a twist of pepper and some garlic along with a handful of spinach leaves to the galette which is brushed lightly with butter. she then deftly folds the crepe over pausing to let the heat melt the cheese and wilt the spinach slightly. since we are sharing she offers to half the crepe and hands us our crepe in a fold of paper. 

after the first bite

a and i settle down at the table and take our first bites. i am instantly transported to the memory of my first ever crepe, the one that i ate on my first trip to paris. crêperie nicolas' galettes are so faithful that i may as well have been eating them in france. i am now looking forward to trying the sweet crepes which i am sure will be as good as the savoury ones.