Reno: Crème Cafe

Subject: FOOD

Place: Crème Cafe

Locale: Reno (Midtown)

Crème Cafe  Website

Visits: 1 (02/26/16)

Food:     4.5 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Venue:  4.5 out of 5 on the Fork-O-Meter

Will I return?: Definitely

NARRATIVE:

There is no getting around my penchant for one-off, unique places to eat. I stumbled onto Crème Cafe while in the waiting room at the eye doctor's office. I am a sucker for breakfast and while looking around the Midtown location in Yelp found Crème pop onto the selection list. Hmmmm, looks good, although I know I have visited other places on the same small block before, never even gave this place a good once-over (probably a little beer-fueled at that moment in time). 

Crème has that old Reno brick building look on the outside and sits next door to the Wedge Cheese Shop. I love these types of building reuse places -- at times the interiors are kept to the original rustic (and rusty) ambiance, in other cases like Crème, the interiors are spoofed up nicely into a very clean, hip, yet warm place to sit and enjoy a meal. Deceptively, the seating available inside is plentiful and varied - a main "coffee counter" near the front glass, conventional table/chairs in the center, a few high tops along the crust, and another small counter facing the semi-open kitchen. Nice music appropriate for the time of day and meal playing in the air.

Okay it is a weekday, so we know crowds are not going to be an issue. Regardless, just based on the quick welcome and seating by the young lady working out front and serving, I can just tell this is the way we would be serviced any time or day of the week. Opted for a regular old table and chair set up on this morning visit. 

I really enjoy when you are provided with a "pot" of coffee at the table - doesn't it just make sense? I can warm my cup up whenever I choose and not have to wave my hands in the air to catch a server's attention. Not only was it a nice old pot of coffee, it was a French press! Nice touch! My dining partner also enjoyed having a nice teapot from which to draw her own beverage. Good start!

My initial reaction to pre-screening Crème's menu online ahead of the visit today was that it was a less-populated selection to which I would be attracted. Additionally, the prices, depending of course on the choice, seemed a little elevated. Eventually, the lure thrown out in reviews and pictures I checked out made at least one visit essential regardless of what my wallet thought.

I would reiterate that the menu is not like Denny's - there are not three-hundred different "Slam" breakfasts available here. BUT I thought everything listed on the menu sounded really, really good. I could have gone several directions here. Surprisingly, my company also reached outside of her usual breakfast cereal box and went for one of their specialties. I went for the Breakfast Tacos; she rolled with the Breakfast Sandwich.

The Breakfast Sandwich included two scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, leeks, mushrooms and a choice of meat (bacon for m'lady today). It comes with choice of fruit, side salad, potatoes or hashbrowns (again, m'lady opted for the hashbrowns). She thought the sandwich was excellent (or "eggsellent" for Micheal) and were complemented by nice, crispy hashbrowns. 

Breakfast Sandwich

The Breakfast Tacos were three (yes, 3) corn tortillas filled with eggs, cheddar cheese, black beans, chorizo, and salsa. I too had the choice of fruit, salad, or taters. Roasted potatoes on my plate today. I am proud to admit that I am a chorizo fiend of sorts.

Breakfast Tacos - CHORIZO!!!

Actually though, I really prefer that nice greasy chorizo you can get in the packages in the supermarket. I really avoid the Spanish (versus Mexican) style whereby the sausage is really just that - sausage. I enjoy the chorizo that melts away in the pan and melds with nearly everything else on the dish. Thus I was thrilled to have these lovely molten chorizo tacos this morning. I inhaled this tortilla triumvirate allowing the resulting chorizo drippings to float onto the roasted potatoes on the plate. Call me Maytag today because of the way I washed those dishes clean.

I would add that along with all of their restaurant fare (including several crepe dishes that almost grabbed me), Crème also offers baked goods that looked delicious. Also, lunch is also served at Crème, and just based on our first breakfast visit today, I see visiting here again soon. I really suggest that you visit their website (linked above) and look their menu over -- you will not be disappointed here. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

--BG