Suzette French Creperies is decorated for the Halloween season as they offer their limited time Great Pumpkin Spice crepe is now available, as well as an added scoop of Herrell’s vanilla ice cream.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
NORTHAMPTON — Suzette French Creperie in Thornes Marketplace has announced it will now begin offering Herrell’s private stock vanilla ice cream as an add-on to their sweet crepes.
The offer includes their special limited-offer crepe, The Great Pumpkin Spice, only available during the month of October.
The collaboration was announced by Suzette French Creperie owners Jean-Luc Wittner and his wife Evelyn Darling.
The two founded Suzette French Creperie in 2020 in Worcester and joined the Thornes Marketplace family with the opening of its second location last December.
Located on Level 1 of Thornes Marketplace, the creperie is located near the small first-floor space most associated with florist shops Forget Me Not and Many Graces. Making the most of every square inch, the restaurant churns out sweet and savory crepes, including gluten-free friendly, vegan and vegetarian options, handmade macarons and classic French meals, such as beef bourguignon, packaged in portions for two to serve at home.
The partnership with Herrell’s is a natural pairing of tasty treats that complement each other. Wittner said while he has always thought of the possibilities of adding ice cream to his sweep crepe offerings, it wasn’t until he reached out to Herrell’s for this collaboration that the idea became reality.
“Maybe there’s a way to partner with them without competing with them. Because that’s really important for us. We don’t sell coffee to not compete with the coffee place next to us. We wanted to have ice cream without competing with the ice cream place already in Thornes,” explained Wittner.
Quickly, Herrell’s President Judy Herrell was happy to form this new collaborative effort.
“I love Suzette’s crepes and have been adding ice cream to them as a treat for myself since they opened,” said Herrell.
Wittner added this collaboration is starting off as a test run, but he hopes to work out a partnership where the local ice cream can be offered consistently with crepes from Suzette.
The Great Pumpkin Spice crepe, modeled after a traditional pumpkin pie, is made with a rich pumpkin filling balanced with the blend of aromatic spices. The French-born Wittner has been perplexed over American’s love of all things pumpkin at this time of year, but he appreciates the nod to classical French cuisine with the addition of Herrell’s vanilla ice cream.
“Pumpkin pie demands ice cream a la mode, and we know of no better vanilla to top our crepes than Herrell’s,” said Darling.
Private stock vanilla was originally made by Herrell’s in 1995 for Julia Child. It was served at an event honoring Chef Child’s contribution to culinary arts by the French Foreign Legion. Unique and very flavorful, private stock vanilla is made using the best pure vanilla and other gluten-free ingredients. It can hold up to hot fudge, pastries or most anything else, including warm sweet crepes.
Wittner said Child popularized assets of French cuisine in America, something he attempts to do himself with comfort meal offerings from Suzette. When recruited to join the Thornes Marketplace family, Wittner and Darling added they soon learned the local history of the ice cream flavor’s invention, as well as Child’s background to the area as a Smith College graduate.
“We were recruited by Thornes and then discovering Julia Childs went to Smith, and there’s all these Julia Childs connections to then come full circle with Herrell’s and their private stock vanilla, which they created specifically for her, it’s very coincidental and lovely,” said Darling.
Both Wittner and Darling credited Thornes Marketplace ownership for creating the business culture that exists within the building, adding they have transitioned easily to the new business community they exist in.
“We really love this place. I call it the happy place. We love the town, we love the market, and we like the community of tenants. Everyone is really nice, it feels like family. In a real way, and not in a marketing way. People are genuinely nice, it’s pretty rare,” said Wittner.
Wittner added he hopes this collaboration between Suzette and Herrell’s serves as an example for business owners to keep an open mind to what is possible within the community.
“If there’s any non-pretentious message — because I don’t want to teach lessons to others — it would be just to keep your mind outside the box. Ten crazy ideas, maybe one is going to work,” said Wittner. “Keep your mind open, it can be collaboration. It can be a lot of things. But talk to other chefs.”
Suzette French Creperie is open at Thornes Marketplace Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Their Herrell’s vanilla ice cream-topped crepes and other French delicacies are available for takeout or consumption at the communal seating areas on the building’s second and third levels.
For updates on the restaurant’s offerings and seasonal specials, follow Suzette on Instagram @suzettecreperie.
“I like the idea of a place being a destination. Like a public market. There are 20 businesses, you have 20 different styles and food, and you create a destination where people want to come,” added Wittner about his appreciation for Thornes Marketplace as the hub for Suzette Creperie and other local businesses.
