From a 'Horse Drawn Bread Cart' to a 'Van’
My great grandfather Peter Kennedy founded ‘Kennedy’s Bread’ and my father had shared great stories of his days working in the famous Dublin bakery. Our attic is still filled with boxes of memorabilia including dusty International Bakery Awards Medals and images of the bakeries horse drawn bread vans on Dublin’s Parnell Street or winning 1st place at the Dublin Horse Show. All predating the arrival of ‘The Van’
I had also worked in the food industry and our family business prided itself on freshly prepared food…from farm to fork, but we were searching for something artisan, something real. It’s no surprise to learn that our nations interest in good quality food has grown in tandem with the emergence of many amazing indigenous food producers.
We thought about the French and how they seemed to have held on to their food tradition and culture be it Michelin Star recognition or the best Baguette on the Boulevard. Another French classic to have traveled the world is the Sweet Crepe and the traditional Savory Galette, both are incredibly popular today. We were getting excited but we needed to know more and so our journey began.
We located a prestigious French Crepe School in Brittany where we trained with the experts to make crisp authentic Crepes and Galettes. There is so much to know from sourcing the best flour and ingredients, choosing and maintaining the best equipment, making the various batters for sweet, savory and gluten free offerings and learning the different techniques on the Krampouz or hot crepes plates.
So now that we had the product how does one make themselves known and get noticed …with the help of a classic vehicle of course. Our teacher had herself spent over 20 years travelling the world in her mobile creperie and we were delighted that she could share her wisdom and practical experience.
A mobile creperie isn’t that unusual but we wanted a vintage French vehicle. It took us months before we finally found one, all alone, unloved and in a shocking state of repair it had to be the unmistakable classic Citroen HY van. And so began a 16 month journey of reconstruction and conversion into an amazing Mobile Creperie.
We used this time well. It was back to Ireland and onto Barista School to learn everything there is to know about coffee from the varieties of bean and what influences their character to understanding the method and skill of making the perfect expresso and finally adding that little bit of latte art.
The Classic Crepes web design went live on the 31st October 2014
If you are interested in having one of our Vintage vans at your function be it to serve Crepes or Ice Cream or Champaigne don’t hesitate and get in touch today. Our vans can also be hired for TV Commercials or Promotional Activity and have recently featured in both a Super Valu and a Iarnoid Eireann TV Commercial.