Café Triskell
Cinnamon and sugar Crepe at Cafe Triskell
Sometimes keeping it simple and focusing on your strengths is the best strategy when running a restaurant. At Long Island City’s Café Triskell, sticking to Parisian staples like flavorful quiches, light-as-air crepes, and tasty French onion soup works perfectly.
Brittany-born chef/owner Phillipe Fallait runs the kitchen at this affordable eatery masterfully whipping up French comfort food. My favorites are the crepes. Using a recipe that has been handed down for generations incorporating buckwheat batter, a delectable Breton tradition, Fallait artfully stuffs serving plate size almost paper thin soft crepes with either sweet or savory fillings.
Savories include carmelized onion and goat cheese or tomato and mushroom topped with flavorful garlic-herb butter that isn’t overpowering. The sweet white-flour dessert crepes are bursting with Valrhona chocolate sauce and poached pears, or the lemon-sugar folded in a square yielding crunchy corners. The plain crepes with a light dusting of sugar and a suggestion of butter make for the perfect breakfast.
Beyond crepes, the croque monsieur is a must-try. Similarities to the American grilled cheese sandwich thickened with ham end with the heavenly drizzle of béchamel sauce on top. This thick creamy mixture made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white flour-butter roux.
photo courtesy of Flooz on flickr.com
