Sally Trial, co-owner of Bon Appetit, uses her electric crepe maker. Maggie Beck/Union Democrat
Bruno and Sally Trial, of Sonora, know a thing or two about crepes.
Born in Paris, France, Bruno Trial studied at the world-famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and was raised on the thin pancake-like delicacy.
“Crepes are a tradition. We made them all our life,” he said.
Bruno’s wife of 17 years, Sally, a native Californian, learned to make crepes in Paris, where she lived for 11 years and met the Frenchman.
“Bruno taught me to make them,” Sally said.
Seven years ago, the couple bought Barretta Gardens Inn online while living in Paris and moved to the Mother Lode.
“Bruno always wanted to live in America,” Sally said.
In 2004, the Trials opened Bon Appetit, their French cafe, located in downtown Sonora, and sold the inn so they could concentrate on the restaurant.
The batter recipe for crepes, which they added to the menu in January, is one Sally brought from France and modified.
“My original recipe called for 3 cups of milk. I changed it to 1 cup of heavy cream and two cups of milk,” she said. “It gives them a better taste and consistency.”
Crepes, which can be made with savory or sweet fillings, originated in Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, where Bruno’s mother, Odette, is from, Sally said.
Sweet fillings for crepes may include fruit, granulated or powdered sugar, whipped cream, lemon juice, or fruit spreads.
Popular savory fillings include mushrooms, spinach, chicken, ham, eggs and various cheeses.
“You can put anything in a crepe. They are really versatile,” Sally said. “I prefer savory crepes.”
The opposite of Sally, Bruno prefers sweet over savory and especially enjoys a more classic French crepe.
“Bruno likes them with a little bit of sugar and butter,” Sally said.
The two find themselves at odds over preparing crepes.
Sally uses a crepe machine, a large round electric griddle, while her husband prefers the traditional method, a crepe pan.
The electric machines make crepes like the ones Sally enjoyed in Paris from the créperies, or portable food stands, which dot the city’s streets.
“They are everywhere in Paris,” Sally said. “They make wonderful crepes.”
The machine is more user friendly and doesn’t require adding extra oil, which Sally prefers.
Using the griddle crepe making process, in the early stages, resembles making pancakes, which is easy enough.
To get the crepe to a papery thin consistency is the hard part and requires using a rabot, a wooden batter spreader.
The process requires an extremely steady hand and fluid motion of the wrist.
Though she makes using the machine look effortless, Bon Appetit employee, Jon Gittleman, of Sonora, knows better.
“After a couple of thousand it gets easier,” Gittleman laughed. “Sally makes it look easy. It’s not.”
Normally high-strung, Sally, who is at the restaurant early in the morning to prepare crepes, uses the time to de-stress.
“Making crepes is very zen. It forces me to relax into the movement,” Sally said.
If made correctly, each crepe should resemble each other in shape, size and in color, she said.
Though Sally is pro-machine, her husband Bruno remains old school, using only a special pan to make his crepes.
“Making crepes is very easy. It’s not brain surgery,” he laughed.
Other than a spatula, which is used to loosen the crepe, the pan method requires no extra tools, just a flexible wrist.
Bruno demonstrates the process by flipping a crepe high in the air and catching it in the pan.
In France, on Feb. 2, the French celebrate La Chandeleur, which is like a national crepe day.
"Everybody makes crepes that day,” Bruno said. “It’s like Groundhog Day here.”
Instead of a woodchuck foreseeing the future, like here in America, a flipped crepe does, Bruno explained.
“Normally you flip it with gold coins,” he said.
“You hold a gold coin in the left hand and flip the crepe with the right hand.”
According to French lore if the crepe lands safely in the pan one will enjoy prosperity, Bruno said.
“It’s for good luck. We are very crazy, French people,” Bruno laughed.
Sally is impressed by Bruno’s talent but won’t be flipping crepes anytime soon.
As far as she is concerned, Bruno can keep his crepe pans.
"Bruno’s crepes are nice, but I prefer my own,” she laughed.
Holding up a perfect crepe she made on her machine, she smiled.
“Bon Appetit.”
