Casa Crêpe isn’t just a business; it’s a part of who I am. I want to share my story in the hopes that it will express to everyone exactly why I say our crepes are “made with love”.

What will you be when you grow up? What career will you pursue? What college will you attend, if you even go at all? These are questions that most, if not all of us, are asked growing up. As a kid, my family had everything we needed to live, but life wasn’t easy. Growing up in Newark comes with a lot of backlash from people that didn’t. Many opportunities that fall into other people’s laps somehow evade yours. Everyone I spoke to, be it family members, friends, or teachers, tried to convince me that I needed to come up with a “realistic” plan to succeed in life. I knew all that was pretty far away, but that didn’t stop it from building an anxiety in me that I could never seem to quiet. I always feared that I’d pick the wrong path or worse, that I’d make no choice at all and the world would decide for me.

I spent a lot of time letting the anxiety cloud my judgment and hold me back. By the time I was 19, I had been working as a legal secretary for over a year and quit to start as a server in a newly opened creperie. Everyone (myself included) thought I was insane to quit such a respectable job to work at a restaurant, but an unexplainable gut feeling told me I had to be there. From my first day on the job, I was captivated by the crepe-making process. I had only been working for a few weeks when one day something I like to call fate happened. The shop was short staffed and the chef at the time had stepped out for a bit too long. A family came in and without any thought other than to feed these people, I stepped up to the crepe station and started making their order. I had never spun a crepe before in my life, let alone make one from start to finish, but that first crepe was a perfect spin. I didn’t have to think or stress. Making those first crepes was fun and exciting, but it also felt like breathing. At that moment, I fell completely in love with what I do.

After 2 years at the creperie, I went on to work at an amazing restaurant in Newark, but I never stopped finding the time to make crepes. As often as I could, I would make them for friends and family. Every single time I did, all I could think about was opening up my own creperie and doing this for people everyday. And like that, any anxiety I had regarding a “realistic” life plan dissipated. I finally realized that I am so lucky to have a talent that I genuinely love so much. If this skill, this passion, and this love is something that can build my life up and add joy to everyone else’s, I’d be an idiot not to pursue it. I couldn’t let fear or doubt continue to make me run away from what I knew I wanted.

Casa Crêpe is a dream I never thought I was allowed to have turned into a reality. I hope it brings you all the joy and inspiration it brings me. In the heart of every crepe I make and person I serve, I have one goal - to provide people with more than just food or crepes; to infuse every bite with an experience, a smile, and love that they can share together.

(Now, cut the crepe and book Casa Crêpe for your next event, you already made it this far to the end of my insanely long story)

-Monica Dos Santos, Owner/Chef