How do you like your french crepes or/and galettes? I like mine sweet, with banana and Nutella!
You can try amazing traditional French Crepes and Galettes from Marine Deloffre at La Louche. She started her business serving take away french crepes from another amazing and supportive local café, Platform 3095 last year. This pop up went ballistic serving 100 french crepes on the first day to our amazing community – all from one pan!
Read on to learn more about this delicious business and how it has evolved.
About Marine
Bonjour! My name is Marine, and I am the owner of the Eltham based “La Louche” Creperie. I was born in Monaco and grew up in the south of France with my parents and two sisters. My dad is a passionate traveller and he passed on the “travel bug” to me very early on. At the age of 23 I decided to do my first big trip and not the nearest(!), I took my first plane to Australia. This is when my long-term relationship with this beautiful country began! I fell in love with all the beautiful landscapes I was seeing. And I loved the relaxed atmosphere and welcoming people. I realised very quickly that I wouldn’t want to leave this place behind ever again! It took me many years and many types of visas to finally become a permanent resident and finally, an Australian Citizen. Today, I am about to celebrate my 14th year in Australia. I live in Eltham with my husband Steven and our two little kids Sophie and Jules!
My past work experiences have been in the Hospitality Industry. From Café jobs to waitressing in fine dining reputable restaurants. I also worked 6 years as a Restaurant Manager in one of the first French Creperies in Melbourne CBD. The first industry I worked in, was Tourism. I have a degree in Tourism in France and have worked as a Tour Guide, taking French groups around Melbourne and Australia!
We serve a full menu of savoury galettes and sweet crepes. We make our galettes with organic buckwheat flour. A 1000-year old and traditional recipe from the Brittany Region in France. The beauty of this product is that it is naturally Gluten Free, the batter is also dairy free and suitable for vegans. We love our galettes and chose to specialise in gourmet authentic recipes, inspired from French cooking. Our sweet crepes are also traditional and made of wheat flour, egg and milk. Filled with delicious spreads, fresh fruits, or fresh and tangy lemon juice from Eltham’s backyards! We choose all our ingredients carefully and source them locally where possible, using Eltham and Victorian suppliers.
The Inspiration for La Louche
La Louche is a ‘lockdown baby’! As the 4th lockdown occurred in Melbourne, I stood down from my job and decided to make some changes. I knew crepes very well and last year’s first lockdown was the opportunity for me to study a small business course. I bought my first crepe pan and organised a first ‘lockdown event’, with (and thanks to) my friends at Platform3095 Café – Eatery. That first event went beyond my expectations, the line was huge, and I made a 100 take away crepes in about 4 hours! With my one pan! Lots of waiting, but lots of smiling faces! This helped me fund my second crepe pan and in the following week we decided to have another go! That event was a lot more manageable, and I realised that people in Eltham were loving my crepes! My initial menu was simple and sweet only. Our friends from Platform 3095 offered us to set up a weekly ‘Pop Up Creperie’ at the back of their Café, in their beer garden. My husband and I started to host this little dine in Creperie every Thursday and Friday, serving a full menu of Savoury Galettes and Sweet Crepes.
The name ‘La Louche’
I named the business ‘La Louche’ which means the ‘ladle’ in French. That is the utensil used for pouring the crepe batter onto the pan and also a very well-known utensil used in cooking.
The Business
The business has evolved from being a one-off single event to a Pop Up, and now regular markets and events. Out of lockdown, we are aiming to trade in more Farmers, Craft and Twilight markets. As well as small or larger scale festivals (Eltham Jazz, Food and Wine Festival, Eltham Rotary Club Festival, So Frenchy So Chic Festival, Bastille Day Festival).
We also take bookings for fun cooking classes, private catering birthday parties, baby showers, and corporate functions!
The good times and the tough times
My first big challenge was to START! To throw myself in and do this first event. There is always a bit of timidity and insecurity, when you are a ‘foreigner’, added to this, being a ‘beginner’ doing business! But I have finally overcome these feelings. I like being who I am. Me! A French woman in Eltham, with a rather strong French accent, sharing tales with my customers and bringing up memories of their last trip(s) to France!
The only thing I would do differently is, I would not hesitate and would believe in myself, believe that I can do it.
Come and support La Louche!
Come and try our crepes at our upcoming markets, we would love to serve our delicious galettes and crepes to you.
Enquire for your next private event or cooking class via our socials!
A little tradition…
My Mum used to make Crepes EVERY Wednesday for our family. She would make the batter in the early morning and cook them in a small pan during the afternoon. In the evening, she would fill them up with ham and cheese and roll them up to gratinate in the oven! We would always eat the leftovers with sweet toppings, of course!
A big thank you!
We would like to THANK the all Eltham and Nillumbik Community for their support and for welcoming our small business. We look forward to meeting many more of you!
Thank you Nillumbik Connections for giving me this opportunity to share my story and journey with La Louche.
Merci!
Thank you Marine, we loved getting to know more about you and your delicious French crepes and galettes!
Read more from our Articles here. And if you’d like to write for us or work together on an article as Marine and I have done, contact us to chat.
Thank you for reading, we hope you loved learning more about this delicious local business.
Please feel free to leave a comment for Marine below.
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