It Was in the Cards
Story and photos by Tyera Eulberg

Sitting at a Texas Hold ’Em table at the World Series of Poker, Greg Carelli looked at his cards. Instead of call, raise or fold, the cards said crêperia.

At 1 a.m. in the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, dozens of people lined up outside pastry chef Jean-Phillipe’s tiny takeout bar. As fast as they came off the griddle, the crêpes flew into the hands of hungry gamblers. Carelli thought of northern Italy, which he visits every year. Portofino, Genoa and other small towns near the French Riviera have dozens of crêperias like the Bellagio’s. “I just fell in love with the idea,” Carelli says. He returned to Boulder inspired to build a crêpe bar in his Italian restaurant.

Pastry chef Ekin Martli spins crêpes at Carelli’s.

Carelli’s, off Baseline at 30th Street, has served Northern and Southern Italian cuisine for 17 years. Carelli, initially the only employee, puts an emphasis on foods from different regions of Italy. A crêperia, Carelli says, is a chance to bring a little bit more of traditional Italy to Boulder.

“Architecturally, it was a bit of a gamble,” says Carelli, who tore out a booth to put in the crêpe bar. Using copper and birchwood, he strove to echo the warm feel of the nooks and fireplaces in the main restaurant.

Infusing the crêpe bar with essence of Italy was easy. At the top of the menu are the two crêpes most popular in the Mediterranean: one, just cinnamon and sugar; the other, sugar and lemon. Two crêpes feature Nutella, the European hazelnut-and-cocoa topping craze. “But Americans like to Americanize things and add a lot of stuff to them,” Carelli says. Hence the Portofino, with apples, cinnamon and ice cream, and the Romeo and Julietta, with brownies and strawberries. Carelli, fluent in Italian, named all the new crêpes after important Italian parts of his life: Massimo is his best friend in Portofino; Priscilla and Pamela are his Italian instructors at the University of Colorado; and Adagio (which means “slowpoke”) is his bulldog.

Yet Carelli doesn’t forget that this restaurant is in Boulder. “There are a lot of foodies here,” he says. “You have accommodate them, to be successful.” In crêpe terms, this means “spinning” the desserts out of three different kinds of flour. Dessert-eaters can choose whole wheat, buckwheat or quinoa (a high-protein, gluten-free Incan grain). “Buckwheat crêpes are going to be a little heavier,” Carelli says. “Quinoa is a little lighter, a little less flavorful. Whole wheat has got a little bit more gluten to it. So everything’s a little different in structure or texture.”

Carelli consulted the Bellagio’s Jean-Phillipe about the art of crêpes, training with his own pastry chefs for four months. “Crêpes are tricky. They take a lot of finesse,” says Carelli, who spins the pancakes on special Italian stones. “It’s nothing like Teflon. You’re making this pancake that has to be the right consistency, and it has to be a 14-inch diameter, and you have to know how to flip it. You have to have the right temperature, and you have to have the right materials in the batter to make it work.”

It’s a bit like poker, actually. You have to start with the right cards, but then you have to play to the players around you. “There’s the flop versus the turn versus the river,” says Carelli, who considers himself a semiprofessional card player. “You have to adapt to the changing scene. There are so many variables to take into consideration.”

| Carelli’s of Boulder Ristorante Italiano, located at 645 30th St., is open Mon-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat 4pm-10pm. Crêpes are served during dinner, 4-10pm Mon-Sat. 303.938.9300; www.carellis.com.

| Tyera Eulberg, Boulder Magazine’s assistant editor, considers herself the barest amateur at both poker playing and crêpe making.

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