Parisian brings his crêpes to town's Farmers' Market
By Suzanne Cristallo
Since May, Sunday strollers at the Los Gatos Farmers' Market have made their way through the crowds with crêpes in hand. Oozing with Nutella or fresh fruit, the savory and sweet crêpes are the creations of Antoine Kaufman, a native Parisian whose cooking craft is now a permanent feature at the Sunday market.
Crêpes by Antoine (Crêpes d'Antoine) is the only mobile crêpe-maker in the Bay Area, according to Kaufman. "I serve at the Market what's on the streets of Paris," he says. An advantage he enjoys over those crêperies, however, is the access he has to the fresh fruit sold by fellow marketers in the booths nearby. "I just yell, 'Hey, fruit man, can you give me some fruit?' and we trade," he laughs. "That's the beauty of being in the market. I get fresh fruit, and they get fresh crêpes."
Kaufman, 35, grew up in Paris, France, where he helped out in his parents' restaurant. Everybody on Rue Moussetard knew him as "the kid." It was a very old and quaint cobbled street where a mobile crêpe-maker stationed himself every day. "I always thought that I would like to do that," he reflects, "but there is a long pass between wanting and getting."
Today, Kaufman is introduced as "the Crêpe Master" by acquaintances. However, he learned his craft not in Paris, but in San Francisco.
In 1993, he came to the United States. His first stop was four months in Monte Sereno; then he moved to San Francisco, where he was able to continue the teaching profession he had started in France. While he taught English as a second language in Paris, he now taught French in San Francisco's French-American School. It was for the preschool through high school students there that he and the chef for the local French Consulate got together and made crêpes every Friday.
"It was our donation to the school," he recalls, "and they thought it was a good idea." Within a year, his crêpe-making experience led him to try it professionally. His first attempt at a street fair on a borrowed crêpe machine went so well that he decided to make Crêpes by Antoine his new life's work. It was the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce that referred him to the Farmers' Market as he sought an outlet in the town.
The breakfast and dessert crepês he serves every Sunday in Los Gatos and at three other local markets during the week are traditional. Among them are savory ham and cheese, to which sun-dried tomatoes and eggs may be added; sweet sugar and lemon or Nutella--a hazelnut spread, with milk and cocoa; and Grand Marnier with fresh fruit. He uses French buckwheat batter, as well as the standard wheat to make the thin pancakes, which are then folded around the fillings.
Recently, Kaufman started crêpe catering from a kitchen in San Francisco. His helper, Catherine Dunand, is running the crêperie at the market in the meantime.
Crêpes by Antoine, 509 Laguna St., San Francisco. Open 8 a.m. to noon every Sunday at the Los Gatos Farmers' Market, that surrounds the Town Plaza Park. 415.285.4585. He's also online at www.crepemaster.com.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
