The Crepe Maker is about as French as you can get in the Irvine Spectrum—Orange Countians feasting upon French crepes served by a staff (noticeably not French), next to a picture of the Eiffel Tower while French music plays in the background—you get the point. Despite the artificial “French cafe” atmosphere of the Crepe Maker, the crepes, both sweet and savory, are excellent.
For our Dessert of the Week, head straight to the bottom of the dessert crepe menu for the Bad Girl. This crepe is made with flour, eggs, milk, butter, and a pinch of salt, cooked to just so, and stuffed with fresh strawberries, dulce de leche, cinnamon, powdered sugar and a little bit of Grand Marnier. The crepes are huge and are wrapped up into a portable dessert. Plus, with a name like Bad Girl, it's fun to order.
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The Bad Girl crepe tastes most strongly of strawberries and cinnamon. The smoothly sweet dulce de leche fills this crepe with gooey goodness. The downside? The Grand Marnier had little effect on the overall flavor of the crepe. The citrus flavor of the liqueur could have been a nice addition to the strawberries, but was most likely overwhelmed by the amount of cinnamon used inside the crepe.
The open kitchen design at the Crepe Maker allows you to watch your crepe being created in front of you. They even film the chefs making the crepes and have it simultaneously playing on a flat-screen TV located on the other side of the restaurant. Great for us, but not so fun for those employees.
