La Crêperie de Paris is a brand new crepe restaurant that will officially be opening in EPCOT’s newly expanded France pavilion on October 1st, 2021 – helping kick off “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort.
The restaurant will open alongside Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, a new family-friendly attraction inviting guests into the larger-than-life world of “Ratatouille.” In the 4D ride experience, guests join little Chef Remy on a daring culinary caper that will captivate all your senses – even smell – as you zip, dash and scurry through the bustling kitchen, dining room and walls of Gusteau’s famous Paris restaurant.
La Crêperie de Paris, is a traditional crêperie with a menu inspired by the Brittany region of France. The table- and quick-service restaurant, where everything is made from scratch and to order, will serve thin and crispy stuffed savory galettes and sweet dessert crêpes, along with some of Brittany’s famous hard ciders.
The gluten-friendly savory galettes will be made with buckwheat imported exclusively from France and will feature classic fillings with some unique twists.
To round out the authentic French experience, La Crêperie de Paris will serve traditional Brittany hard ciders that pair perfectly with both savory galettes and sweet crêpes.
From the sweet doux to the less sweet brut and demi sec, the hard ciders are imported from France and made only with apples that Brittany is known for.
The restaurant will also offer a daily prix fixe menu that includes a choice of soup or a salad, one savory galette, one dessert crêpe, and a glass of hard cider, soda or juice.
The full menu of savory and sweet crêpes features:
SAVORY GALETTES
Classique: ham, egg, Swiss cheese
Poulet: chicken, bechamel cheese sauce, mushrooms
Chèvre: goat cheese, spinach, walnuts
Saumon: smoked salmon, crème fraiche, chives, lemon
Ratatouille: tomato, zucchini, eggplant
Savoyarde: Raclette cheese, onions, imported Bayonne ham
SWEET CRÊPES
Gourmande: hazelnut chocolate spread, whipped cream
Banane: banana, caramel beurre salé
Melba: peach, red berries sauce, almonds
Poire: pear, chocolate ganache, whipped cream
Pomme: caramelized apples, caramel beurre sale
We recently had the privilege of speaking with Eric Weistroffer, Executive Director of JBI / Chefs de France, via e-mail about bringing the new restaurant to life here at the France Pavilion as well as upcoming changes at Epcot – see below for our chat:
Tasty Chomps Interview with Eric Weistroffer, Executive Director of JBI / Chefs de France
- Tasty Chomps: Tell us about the history of crepes / galettes in France – why is this so iconic do you think to French culture?
Mr. Eric Weistroffer: Galette originated in Brittany, France where Buckwheat grows – here, they make a dough with water and sea salt and cooking it on a hot stone.
This hot stone is where the name Galette comes from, the stone in French are called “Galet”, and from there the Galette transformed into crepe with the addition of wheat, eggs, milk and butter and went all over France.
- People are familiar with the traditional crepe, but tell us about the galette – the sourcing of the buckwheat flower and the cooking process? fermentation – very delicate balance I am sure involved.
The Galette are very traditional to Brittany, where a lot of Buckwheat grow. There are different kinds of Buckwheat type, and for La Creperie we chose one that is grown and milled in Brittany and is specially imported for us.
Buckwheat is naturally gluten free but because it is milled in a facility that does other type of wheat and because we handle a lot of wheat in our kitchen we call it gluten friendly.
We need to make the dough at least 1 day in advance so the flour can re-humidify itself and there is a fermentation that happen.
If we put too much water or keep it too long we can serve it anymore, also we can’t just do a mix and serve it, it wouldn’t be good. We always to make sure we have plenty of dough made but not too much.
- For those coming to try La Creperie for the first time, what would you recommend to them?
All of the galettes or crepes are delicious and it mostly depend of what you are in the mood to eat that day. But the “Classique” also very often called the complete in Brittany and is one of the most common one. It is great any time of the day. The buckwheat galette with the cheese, the ham and the egg – it’s just a great blend, and pair it with a glass of hard cider and this is perfect.
Right now one of our favorite crepe is the melba with peach, red berries sauce and almonds, you can add to it a scoop of our house made ice cream and even a shot of Grand Marnier to have one of kind dessert!
- What are some upcoming plans for the food in France?
We are working on a new concept to reopen Monsieur Paul, more information will come soon.
- What do you want guests to come away with when they visit the France pavilion ?
We are trying to make our guest feel like they have been transported to France (without the jet lag) and offer the most authentic experience.
- Besides La Creperie, what are some of your favorite dishes at the other properties in France?
It depend on the mood of the day, or the weather, sometimes it might be a Boeuf Bourguignon at Chefs de France followed by a crème brulee, a Croque Monsieur and a Macaron at Boulangerie Patisserie les Halles, or Escargot Croissant at the EPCOT International Food and Wine France festival kiosk and in the afternoon a Croque Glace with Chocolate Ice Cream from L’Artisan des Glaces.
And I forgot in the morning a Hot Chocolate with a Chocolate Brioche from the bakery!..
For now, reservations won’t be needed to enjoy this amazing taste of France in the newly expanded France pavilion, opening on October 1, with table service dining available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Be sure to keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog, DisneyWorld.com/50 and #DisneyWorld50 on social platforms for more details on “The World’s Most Magical Celebration.” Bon appetit!
