If you’re near Gifford Hall on a Wednesday night, you are likely to stop and wonder what that delectable brown sugar, buttery scent is — the irresistible smell of crêpes. The Creperie at Wednesday Night Open Mic Party (WOMP) has been providing dessert to fulfill students’ cravings when the dining halls are closed for the night for over a year.
Coming through the Gamut Room door at 8 p.m., I was greeted by two of the four Creperie employees prepping in the kitchen, listening to their own tunes before WOMP started just 30 minutes later. They had taken down orders from the week prior and hung up a freshly printed menu, which included the crêpe flavor of the week.
Trinkle and Buren prepping before the creperie opens.
Meticulously crafted menu, including the flavor of the week.
Launched in January 2023, I wondered what inspired such a unique business and how it came to be. It turns out that Creperie founder Lily Buren ’26 often cooked crêpes for her friends at home as her go-to party trick.
“In high school I used to make crepes a lot for my friends, and last January I was like, ‘I want to bring this to Middlebury,’” Buren told me over lunch last Friday.
Few students have access to the Gamut Room kitchen in Gifford, but Buren set her mind to forming a crêpe business there. After getting in contact with the staff in charge of the Gamut Room, completing a food manager training in the Proctor Dining Hall basement and coordinating with members in the Student Activities Office, Buren gained access to the kitchen and started the Creperie.
Sliced strawberries and bananas are ready before orders start coming in.
Listening to Buren, I could feel her passion for this one-of-a-kind skill and how it has brought both her friends from home and from college together, including Zachary Taylor ’26, Aksil Boughida ’26 and Ellie Trinkle ’26.
Over dinner, I asked Trinkle to reflect on her journey as a member of the Creperie, and how the business has evolved since last year. Initially, Trinkle said that she would assist in promotional work for the business, creating eye-catching menus and Instagram stories.
After the first night running the Creperie, however, the team realized they needed another person in the kitchen to keep the system organized.
“I helped to develop our ordering system. We accept phone numbers, so we’re not noisy and disturbing the performances going on at WOMP,” Trinkle explained. “And then I also make the menus digitally. Every week I do the prep, I make the batter, social media, all that good stuff.”
The first few weeks the Creperie ran, tickets would be sent to the back of the kitchen and the members would call out order numbers, which was logistically challenging with the live music simultaneously playing at WOMP. To resolve this problem, the Creperie developed a system of collecting phone numbers, which alerts customers when their order is ready without disrupting the performance.
This system would not be possible without Taylor working the front of the house.
“I just greet people. I say ‘hey, how are you? How's your night going?’ I take their orders. I write them down. I get their phone numbers. I do all that,” Taylor said.
Charlie Grossman ’27 deciding what crêpe to order with Taylor’s recommendations.
Taylor writing down an order and phone number.
Taylor collecting the tips his team received.
While Buren’s mastery cooking skills are essential to the success of the Creperie, the three other members have an equally crucial role.
“I have never made a crêpe before. I'm not gonna lie,” Taylor told me proudly. But that doesn’t mean Taylor cannot share the joy of eating a crêpe with his customers.
“I do love indulging in the crepes,” he added. “My favorite is the Nutella and banana crepe… if I'm working a shift, I need at least one or two crepes to just keep me going. And it's a great, great little snack at the end of the day.”
Buren hands off a finished order to the front window.
Having arrived at Middlebury right after the Creperie’s debut, Sailor Kabeary ’26.5 is a frequent visitor of its late-night kitchen. Right after she arrived on campus, Kabeary started performing at WOMP and inevitably developed a routine of indulging in a post-performance snack at the Creperie.
“It was like my little reward,” Kabeary said, reflecting on her first few times buying a crêpe. “Now, this year I live in Gifford, and so it’s literally a 30-second walk to the Creperie. And so I frequent it. It’s a good study break.”
Kabery enjoying a study break with a crepe
Now, Kabeary is good friends with the owners of the Creperie and is even happier to know she is supporting the people she loves.
“I am very in awe of all of the Creperie employees. I mean, the flavors that they've come up with recently have been incredible. They've really stepped up their game. And also, just bottom line: they make a really good crepe,” Kabeary said.
It’s true: the Creperie makes a really impressive crêpe and I would argue that it tastes significantly better than ones I’ve had from other establishments in the past.
I am also impressed with how the business strives to continuously improve its craft and organization. I frequent the Creperie about once a month, and I’m always amazed by the complexity of and the thought put into the flavors. Creativity has a home at the Creperie.
Every week, there’s a special flavor of the week, some of which have been permanently added to the menu, such as raspberry white chocolate and maple butter. The team recently developed an online ordering system through Jotform. Trinkle mentioned that the business even started doing delivery to select locations on campus, which has been a fun experiment and new way to connect with more students on campus.
What’s perhaps more striking than the food itself is the connection between the four co-workers. As Trinkle expressed, when working in such a tight space, you’re forced to figure out a rhythm with the other people.
The team knows how to collaborate with each other and how to commit effectively to their work, but it also makes my day when I see them laughing and lovingly bantering with one another together as they prepare behind the counter.
“The creperie means, honestly, a family at Middlebury. Something to look forward to every week,” Taylor said.
Editor’s note: Ellie Trinkle ’26 is a News Editor for The Middlebury Campus.
