Sava Crepes
Sava Crepes is a creperie for sweet and savoury crepes, served the French way, on buckwheat galette, if requested.
Passersby get a look into the entire crepe-making process through large windows at the Yonge and Blythwood Road shop just south of Alexandra Muir, a neighbourhood garden and launchpad to several parks and ravines.
Inspired in part by her dad's Sunday morning blinis (Russian pancakes similar to a crepe) and Montreal creperies that swear by crepes made with organic buckwheat flour, Kirov-born Sofia Reshetnikova opened Sava.
The 29-year-old, self-taught cook started sharing her food creations on Instagram three years ago and documented her experience opening a cafe to her followers after jumping into first-time entrepreneurship. Reshetnikova spent six months experimenting with different combinations to come up with her menu of both regular and gluten-free crepes that don't compromise on flavour or texture.
She tried six organic buckwheat flours before landing on one milled out of Montreal, where they're careful not to lose too much of the natural fibre and nutritional value while producing the flour.
She also makes a wheat-flour batter, so you have the option between the two for every order. If you don't have a preference, those of the sweeter variety will come on a wheat crepe.
Reshetnikova believes that the fillings are what makes a crepe, and so only uses the highest quality meats, cheeses and fruits inside of hers. Ham and brie ($10.25) is made with fresh-sliced honey ham from Kingsway Meats and cheese from International Cheese in the Junction.
Another among the savoury selection, creamy turkey ($12.75) features turkey breast, bacon, brie, mushrooms and a housemade aioli infused with shallots.
There's also one prepared with whipped cream cheese, shallots, capers, dill and lots of fresh smoked salmon ($15.50).
In terms of dessert crepes, blueberry forest ($12.75) is filled with fresh blueberries, whipped cream cheese and blueberry compote. Splurge an extra $1 to $1.50 for whipped cream or ice cream.
Lemon cream ($6.25) is Reshetnikova's personal favourite, made with a homemade light and citrusy sweet paste similar to a custard cream in texture. Just eggs, lemon juice and a few other ingredients are used to make it fresh.
The options don't end over at the espresso machine with oat, almond and lactose-free kinds of milk available to go with your coffee, tea or creamy matcha latte.
A medium-dark roast from Propeller Coffee is used for all of the espresso-based drinks offering a reliably-good cup of coffee for the neighbourhood folks.
Hector Vasquez