New creperie opens in Algonquin, c'est si bon
A new taste of France has come to the Randall Road corridor.
Creperie Normande opened just a week ago in Algonquin at 1644 S. Randall Road, serving authentic French crepes, as well as distinctive salads, desserts and beverages.
While you might normally thinks of crepes as delicious treats filled with sweets, such as chocolate and strawberries, Creperie Normande offers much more.
The restaurant has both a sweet menu and a savory menu. Their French chef creates specialty savory crepes that are perfect for lunch or dinner.
The savory crepes are filled with all sorts of surprises from seafood, to chicken to cheese.
They even offer a Mexican crepe, with shredded chicken, mole sauce and sour cream, and a Norwegian crepe with smoked salmon, sour cream, Brie and tomato.
Of course, you can always finish off your meal with one of the sweet crepes, or come in for just one of those irresistible creations at any time of the day.
Co-owner Marguerite Keitalys, who is French, says she envisions people stopping into the restaurant for the unique food at all times of the day. She said she invites people to take a break during the afternoon with a friend, have some coffee and have a sweet treat.
Their sweet creations include crepes just for chocolate lovers - including a hot chocolate, pear and toasted almond crepe, and "gourmande" crepes filled with such treats as chocolate mousse, orange jam or slice apples.
And of course it wouldn't be a French creperie without some options filled with Nutella.
"We have coffee, tea and crepes. It's a place were people can come and relax and have great crepes in a great atmosphere with great people," she said.
Keitalys said it's an idea she'd been thinking about for awhile.
Her neighbor, a French chef, put the idea into her head, and then Keitalys said it was an idea she couldn't wait to pursue.
"There aren't a lot of creperies. We decided we wanted to come up with an upscale, but not high price, restaurant," she said. "It's a great atmosphere, very friendly and with a great price."
The restaurant is located in Algonquin Commons, right behind Chicago Home Fitness.
Keitalys said they looked at several locations, and were debating between Crystal Lake and Algonquin.
They settled on the Randall Road corridor in Algonquin Commons because of the high-traffic area, as well as the family-oriented atmosphere of the mall, she said.
"We love the place," she said.
She said she hopes customers will love it too, and that they can eventually expand to other locations.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.
Time to tweet: Geneva Commons along Randall Road is running a contest through today for all of you Twitter users out there.
To win the contest, you'll need to retweet the following message - all 131 characters - to all of your followers: @GenevaCommons in Geneva IL is giving away a $50 gift card.
RT March 9-10 for your chance to win. Details at bit.ly/GenCom1.
When you do, you'll get a chance to win a $50 Geneva Commons gift card.
The contest ends at midnight tonight. The winner will be announced on Twitter. For information, visit twitter.com/GenevaCommons.
• Amy Williams' column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.