Restaurants

The Quintessential Crêpe

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The sweet crêpes were petite compared to the savory, and a simple lemon crêpe was practically a size zero. Actually, I liked the lemon crêpe very much. Its light flavor reminded me of a fortune cookie: a little vanilla, a little citrus. It would have gone well with Serendipity's dark-chocolate ice cream (one of several flavors available on its own or with a crêpe) had it not been twenty degrees outside.

Though the "Peanut Butter Cup" crêpe was about the same size as the lemon, it was so rich with dark chocolate and thick peanut butter that it seemed twice as big. A crêpe of figs poached in liquor — brandy or rum, I'd guess — with toasted pecans was almost as savory as it was sweet. Both were good, but you should consider each a meal by itself, rather than a dessert course.

After 11 a.m. Rooster offers several sandwich selections in addition to its crêpes. Here I had considerably less luck. The pork in a pulled pork sandwich was very tender (Rooster uses hormone- and antibiotic-free beef, pork and chicken from local sources), but it came in a barbecue sauce too sweet for my tastes, though I liked its gradual heat. The roasted ham on a croque monsieur was also quite good, but the sandwich itself was a disappointment. In fact, it wasn't a croque monsieur. It hadn't been grilled. The roasted ham and Gruyère cheese — there were also supposed to be caramelized onions, but on my sandwich they were sparse — were served on a soft, fresh roll instead. A sandwich with marinated chicken was an outright disaster, swampy with mayonnaise and marred by the presence of a chunk of bone.

Though its food needs tweaking here and there, Rooster is a great idea in a perfect spot. The mere fact that the corner of Locust and 11th seems able to support a neighborhood café is something to crow about. Whether you say cock-a-doodle-doo or cocorico is up to you.

Have a suggestion for a restaurant the Riverfront Times should review? E-mail ian.froeb@riverfronttimes.com.

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