126 Water Street, Worcester (508) 282-5212

Bernie Whitmore

Pandemic safety precautions: The opening of Suzette Crêperie was delayed by the pandemic, so outdoor seating (six tables, properly spaced apart along the sidewalk) and reduced indoor seating have been key to conducting business. Additionally, the flow of foot traffic indoors is directed from the street entrance through the dining room to an exit out a rear side door. This reduces face-to-face encounters.

Fully expecting to sit outdoors, it was early Saturday evening and my friend noticed an isolated table inside and suggested we should claim it. First, though, we lingered at the counter to study the menu posted on large blackboards, placed our order and paid. Then we headed to the still-open table; meals would be delivered. 

The menu is expansive, consisting mostly of savory crêpes and a half-dozen dessert options. In addition to coffee and tea selections, soft drinks, water and juices are stored in refrigerated cases. I snagged a bottle of Nantucket Nectar orange. 

This was my first experience sitting inside a restaurant in six months and it gave me the opportunity to more closely observe the end-results of a transformation that converted the venerable Weintraub’s Deli into a sleek study in cool gray, white and natural brick. Overhead, the old tin ceiling has been cleaned up and refurbished. 

The new décor is clean and uncluttered; quite the antithesis of the ancient deli where the walls themselves seemed to have pastrami steeped into them. Out of respect for those memories, the new owners have left a few traces of Weintraub’s; see how many you can find.

Another neat thing about indoor seating is the opportunity to watch your crêpe being prepared: the chef poured a ladle of batter onto the center of a hot circular surface, then used a special rake-like implement to meticulously spread it into a large thin disc that cooked till dappled golden brown. Then it’s folded over the fillings of your choice.

My selection, “The Viking,” was gluten-free and filled with smoked salmon, spinach, a schmear of avocado, sour cream and horseradish cream. It was an instant delight; the flavors of each ingredient blended harmoniously and the crêpe itself was delicate in texture, subtle in flavor.

When I’d first heard of a crêperie coming to Water Street I was apprehensive that another international cuisine element – in this case the classic French crêpe – would be Americanized through some industrial process and rendered without soul. 

No fear! Suzette’s crêpes asserted themselves in containing their warm layers of fillings while yielding tenderly to the fork. Jean Luc, owner and chef, explained that it is his grandmother’s secret recipe and process that results in such a tender tasty crêpe. He went on to describe the chemistry of gluten molecules bonding. 

Visions of endless protein chains dissipated as I went back to finish my Viking.

My friend’s crêpe selection, ‘My Grandma’s Favorite,’ was filled with bits of chicken and mushrooms in a béchamel sauce richly flavored with thyme. I snagged a portion and decided that this might actually define French Comfort Food.

In a move to assure food safety, Suzette Crêperie serves their meals on one-use Chinet plates with individually wrapped cutlery sets. Thus presented, our crêpes appeared a bit dwarfed and undramatic sitting all alone on those large paper plates. In reality, though, we found them to be very appetite-satisfying meals.

Dessert crêpes ranged from the classic ‘Suzette’ to the ‘Fat Elvis,’ which pairs up peanut butter, bananas, bacon and honey. My friend went with the ‘Nutella Banana’ – simple by comparison – and he had it topped with a swirl of chocolate sauce. Banana slices seemed to melt into the warm Nutella spread that oozed from layers of crêpe.

For my initial visit to Suzette, I felt it mandatory to finish with their ‘Crêpe Suzette.’ Their Suzette treatment slathered another of their fresh crêpes with warm orange marmalade and almond paste.

This wasn’t the classical tableside treatment I experienced decades ago on my first trip to France where the chef, puffed up with professional pride, dramatically juiced oranges, blended and reduced a syrup and then flambéed a silver platter of crêpes to the applause of the entire dining room.

Paper plates tend to rule all that out and Worcester’s fire code may not approve the pyrotechnics. Strip away all the flourishes and showmanship and what’s left, the classic French Crêpe, is alive and well on Water Street at Suzette Crêperie.