Crêpe de Triomphe at Flo’s Crêperie
Noosa has experienced a French revolution since Flo’s came to town to fulfil our Francophile desires with mouth-watering crêpes and galettes two years ago. To celebrate their triumph, Georgia Beard asks Tahitian Head Chef Stéphane Yau about the journey and joie de vivre of crêpe making!
What has been your most memorable shift since you began at Flo’s?
The opening day for sure. Opening day is always magic. It’s the result of months of blood, sweat and tears – and the anticipation of serving our first customers and seeing smiles on their faces is always the best and most magical part. We couldn’t be sure how Noosa would respond to our crêpes but that first day gave us a good feel for what was to come!
What is the most exciting Australian ingredient you’ve been able to work with?
The beautiful prawns from Tin Can Bay. We’re lucky enough to be working with Peter Lee from Tin Can Bay, a beautiful sleepy town up north on the way to Rainbow Beach. Peter and his wife Lisa deliver the prawns themselves and it’s always nice to have a chat with them on how fishing is going and what they’ve been catching lately. We usually buy their scallops as well which are also delicious.
Out of your team, who eats the greatest number of crêpes in a week?
This is a tricky one to answer as we have a lot of French people in the store and we’re all mad about crêpes – we have some good eaters in the store!
We actually had to make a limit on how many crêpes people from the team could eat in one shift as it was getting a little out of control.
If you could only eat one crêpe for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?
I’m from Tahiti, and in Tahiti we love cinnamon – I do put it on a lot of dishes. So, for me, nothing beats cinnamon on a crispy crêpe with a lot of melted butter and sugar – with a drizzle of Nutella because I’m a bit nutty!
What receives the most requests at home?
I don’t really cook crêpes at home because I make so many at Flo’s!
But when I was a kid, the one that we requested my mum to make the most was a crêpe with jam or jam and peanut butter.
Simple, but not really traditional. We’ve never had that request at Flo’s, and we don’t even have peanut butter in store! Maybe, we should do a special?!
What is best to drink with a crêpe?
I’m definitely a beer guy, and I don’t think beer with crêpes should be too overpowering as it will overtake the taste of the crêpes. So, I will say that nothing beats a nice crisp Australian lager.
Which is better – crêpe or galette?
It’s really hard to choose since I love both so much. But the thin, buttery crispiness of the sweet crêpes is too hard to resist, so I’ll go for the crêpe. I could eat them at any time of the day or night and never get sick of them.
I’ve been working as a crêpe maker for eight years and I reckon I’ve made about 200,000 crêpes and galettes during that time. I love it!
