Guest Post – Rachel’s Flip Crepes Savory Crepe Class Review (& Rue La La deal)

According to their website, FliP Crêpes main business seems to center around supplying Chicagoans with a healthy alternative to traditional on-the-go options, focusing on providing options for the gluten-intolerant, diabetic and vegetarian/vegan crowds. Great! They offer catering and private chef dinners, as well as take-out for the casual individual looking for a quick dinner.

The other part of their business are their cooking classes. These include crêpe classes (savory, dessert, etc.), fondue classes, a class dedicated to knife skills (you need to know how to mince those onions for your crêpe!) and will also entertain private parties.

A few weeks ago, my co-worker and I attended the savory crêpe class after work. You may remember these folks housed in the French Market. It seems they have relocated headquarters to a much farther location! (Karen clarifies that they do sell food to-go at the French Market – but the classes are further west.)
Fortunately we hopped a cab and made it on time, but definitely allow for some travel time- as their new location is farther west of the city: 2136 W. Fulton St. However, for those of you who plan ahead and read directions (unlike myself), there is ample free street parking as this is buried in the middle of warehouse district in West Town.

The Good:

Walking inside, the space is great- they have a number of 2-person workstations already assembled with utensils and ingredients. They stay extremely clean- which is something an ex-hospitality industry-worker notices and appreciates. The space is cleanly decorated and features a bunch of paintings done by local artists and some quiet background music and dimmed lighting to set the mood for (bow chicka wow wow)… crêpe-making.
Our instructor was Chef Ian- extremely friendly and had a respectable culinary background- studied at Kendall and is a certified sommelier. He introduced himself to us by offering us a complimentary glass of wine- he’s all A’s in my book!

Once we mixed our batter, Ian brought the class to his workstation (which is up front and faces the class) for an up-close demo of the art of crêperie (is that a word?). Seeing as how pretty much anyone can pour batter in a pan and then flip it once it’s brown, the demo was pretty short, and Ian walked around for those that needed assistance. While we were cooking our savory crêpes, Chef Ian whipped up a batch of dessert crêpes (laced with a little rum… I mean, c’mon Ian- do you need a wife?) for us to try after our meals.

I will say that the options for filling the crêpes was a tad on the scant side; I’d compare it to letting your little brother put together your dinner party- it’s somewhat there, but not quite. (And my disclaimer is that we were a small class- there were only 7 of us and it looks like the classes could be as big as 20, so to save $$ they may not have put out as much food). Anyways, Ian had prepared some chicken tossed with tomatoes and basil, drizzled with some balsamic reduction- which was dee-lish, but then had a bunch of other random ingredients. But like I said- it may just have been because of our class size. The dessert crêpes were delicious! (I liked them better than the savory ones!) and they even provided a few ingredients to stuff them with.

Note: this place is BYOB. We didn’t realize this and should have- to emotionally deal with the below.

The Bad:
The overall experience would have been much more enjoyable if it hadn’t been for the two couples we had been in class with. I mean seriously- the old ladies stage left didn’t know a ladle from a mixing bowl, and asked like a bazillion questions. I’m surprised one of them didn’t catch fire. I get that you want to come to a cooking class to learn- which you seriously need in a bad way… but maybe start with some kind of cooking foundations class or something. I’m sure the local preschool offers one that would challenge the hell out of you. Seriously- just think of those poor husbands.

BUT NOT TO BE TOPPED… we had crazy, PDA couple in front of us. And I’m not referencing a few quick pecks during the highly-romantic cooking session (sarcasm laid on extremely thick) but these two were absolutely ridiculous. As in tongues-in-each-others-mouths and his-hands-on-her-ass-the-entire-freaking-time. Hey – do that kind of stuff in the privacy of your own home- NOT WHERE I AM COOKING AND EATING FOOD. And per my earlier note about the “awesomeness” of this place being BYOB, after further consideration I’m not quite sure I agree as this couple downed an entire 6-pack of IPAs during our hour and a half session. I’m sure those puppies didn’t help with the whole situation. Phew! Rant over.