The French Cow Crepes Shop
The French Cow Crepe Shop owner Marie Wallace wanted to share her love for French crepes with the Detroit Community. What began as a pop-up at Eastern Market and has grown to catering multiple events throughout the region.
For more information go to thefrenchcowcrepesshop.net
Why and how did you decide to start a food business?
In 2008, I had a vision of opening a crêpe shop in Detroit, but at the time I only went as far as finding the right name for it and got pregnant with my first child then got pregnant with my second child and only went back to opening for real in 2015.
I really think that I decided to open a crêpe place because I love the crepes that I was raised with in France and our Traditional galette recipe. Nobody was making crêpes in Detroit the way that we are. A friend of mine who had a coffee shop told me if you don’t start you are never going to do it so we put a date in it and had a first pop-up. And this is how we got started.
How long have you been in business?
We have been in business since 2015. The LLC was created in 2017 when we started selling our crepes at Eastern market every Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.
How has owning a business changed now from when you first started?
I have always been a mobile business so things have not really changed in the way that I operate my business. I still do pop-ups and go everywhere.
I this the pandemic changed my need to want to have a brick and mortar. Before the pandemic, I applied to Hatch Detroit and I wanted to win the money to open my own brick and mortar. Now, I don’t think that is one of my priorities anymore. I also changed kitchens during that time but other than that, everything has been pretty much the same at The French Cow.
Can you tell us about your signature items?
We sell, savory and sweet Crepes. The savory crêpes are really traditionally called galettes. They are gluten-free and made with buckwheat flour as they were made centuries ago in Brittany, France.
Our best seller is La Complete which is a savory crêpe with egg, ham, Mexican cheese, and caramelized onions. Our sweet crêpes are made with all purpose flours and they are not gluten-free.
They are the kind of crepes I grew up with. The batter can be made to have orange blossom, rum, or vanilla bean. My favorite sweet crêpe is the Paola delight, which is Nutella, coconut and almonds
“I was extremely lucky to be welcomed there and still consider myself so privileged to be able to utilize this wonderful kitchen where I get to make friendships with people who share the same struggles and day-to-day life as I do.”
How has Eastern Market’s programming and incubator kitchen impacted your growth?
Prior to the pandemic, our kitchen was located at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. On the day of closure for the quarantine, we had to move out and we were never able to go back. The incubator kitchen at Eastern Market saved my business and allowed me to find a home closer to where I was selling my crepes. I was extremely lucky to be welcomed there and still consider myself so privileged to be able to utilize this wonderful kitchen where I get to make friendships with people who share the same struggles and day-to-day life as I do.
What advice do you have for future food business entrepreneurs?
My advice to future food business entrepreneurs is, if you’re doing it for the money only, do not do it. Because there are ups and downs in this business and it’s not always easy. So if you don’t love what you do, you’re in for disenchantment. But if you love cooking and you love sharing your food, it will always be worth it, and it will be rewarding.
IG: thefrenchcow
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Web: https://thefrenchcowcrepesshop.net/
Images courtesy of The French Cow Crepes Shop