Wrapped Delights

The French have long considered the crepe to be a wrap,though at times it is given the status of a fine food to be eaten with knife and fork. The Italians have two versions of it,sweet,dolci,and salty,salati. A sweet crepe might have Nutella in it,a salty one,ham and cheese. But at the recently-opened Afraa Creperie in Salt Lake City Centre,you will find a Bengali version this humble pancake which originated in Brittany,France. Beckti crumbs and kasundi,wrapped in a thin,supple flour pancake- Bengali Eshtyle they call it. It looks somewhat like mughlai parantha,but thankfully is much lighter on the palate.

Equally subtle is the veggie delight crepe,an innovation tailor-made for Indian vegetarians with spinach,corn and cheese fillings. Though the eatery concentrates on crepes,it also has an interesting selection of soups and salads on offer. We tried the apple and promgranate salad and were quite impressed with the heady,mustardy dressing.

Since most items in the menu are priced within the Rs 150 range,Afraa Creperie cannot exactly be called an expensive place. That doesn’t mean it’s one of those fast-food places where you are glared-at if you dont gobble down your food,the mood is liesurley and the service informal but personalised.

The 42-seater creperie,which was the brainchild of owner Harshvardhan Neotia,looks like a cross between an American all-night diner (bulky,suspended lights,posters on the wall) and a Parisian deli ( lithe,wood furniture). It is aimed at “popularizing the concept of crepes in Kolkata”,claims co-owner Madhu Neotia.