Ooh La La! Crêpes Come To Grosse Pointe Park

Few things are more quintessentially French than crêpes, those crispy-edged, paper-thin pancakes enveloping delectable sweet or savory fillings, and few places more breezily “bohême” than a crêperie, where these treats are whipped up on turntable-shaped griddles amid the merry din of conversation and clinking coffee cups.

At 9 a.m. Saturday the doors opened at the corner of Charlevoix and Alter in the Park, where Detroit entrepreneur Torya Blanchard has a second iteration of her enormously popular Midtown crêperie Good Girls Go To Paris.

The first Good Girls, in the Park Shelton condominium building near the Wayne State University, has been delighting foodies since 2008 with some 50 varieties of crêpes, each of which has a proper name.

Favorites include

• the Sarah: red pepper, mushrooms, spinach, balsamic vinaigrette
• the Rose: fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinaigrette
• the Jeannette: prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil, herb de provence
• the Good Girl: banana, Nutella
• the Melissa: fresh lemon, Ricotta cheese, lemon cookie crumbs, brown sugar

The Grosse Pointe location, in the roughly 2,000 square feet that comprise 14929 and 14931 Charlevoix, will offer a smaller crêpe menu than the Detroit location, Blanchard said.

It will still serve the same beverage menu, including Intelligentsia brand and Fair Trade coffees along with the orange drink, San Pellegrino Aranciata. The new location will also feature the same warm red walls and oversized French new age film posters and offer wireless Internet.

Blanchard fell in love with crêpes during the two years she spent in France working as an au pair. Upon returning to the United States, she studied French at Wayne State University and then taught the language for five years at a Detroit charter school—but a “voice” kept telling her start a business and be her own boss.

The recession, and the low commercial rent that came with it, proved the perfect time to strike out on her own. She set up Good Girls in 48 square feet of space with a window through which to serve customers outside on the street. When business picked up she moved to the Park Shelton location on East Kirby.

Three years after her first venture, Blanchard is realizing ambitious plans that include this second Good Girls location and a bar, Rodin’s, that is located near the Detroit Institute of Arts and slated for an early 2012 opening.

She was also one of 11 young entrepreneurs recognized this August by the Obama administration as a “Champion of Change.” The Champions of Change program is a weekly series in which the White House, according to its Web site, “highlights the stories and examples of citizens across the country that represents President Obama’s vision of out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the rest of the world through effective projects and initiatives that move their communities forward.”

Blanchard, who lives in Midtown, chose Grosse Pointe for her next Good Girls location because of its “good vibe.”

“It’s a great community. There are a lot of different economic groups that live in that area. And I always knew I wanted to have a place on the street where Moo Moo’s used to be,” Blanchard said, referring to the organic bistro that was formerly in Good Girls’ 14929 building. “I just remember it being so cute and a pretty place to walk around.”

Blanchard, who plans to join the Grosse Pointe Chamber of Commerce and host a ribbon cutting, has not yet decided the new location’s hours of operation.

However, she said, they will be modeled on the hours at the Park Shelton, which are Monday -Wednesday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Thursday: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.; and  Sunday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The phone number is 1-877-PARIS-CREPES.