Holy Crepes! now open on the Soulcial Kitchen campus in Swansea, Illinois

×

Expand

Courtesy of Holy Crepes

Bubble waffle cone with fresh fruit, chocolate shake, blueberry bourbon pecan crepe

Courtesy of Holy Crepes!

Soulcial Kitchen's offerings continue to grow, with a sweet addition. John Michel, owner of the Metro East food truck campus, recently opened Holy Crepes! (1718 Helen, Swansea, Illinois). Using his family’s 100-year-old recipes from Paris, the shop serves up sweet and savory crepes. Here's what to know before you go. 

Courtesy of Holy Crepes

The Last Supper crepe

The Menu

Made-from-scratch crepe options include such fillings as fruit, gourmet preserves, Nutella and Biscoff cookie butter spread.

The house specialty is a Croque Glace, made from a sweet Brioche bun that's pressed and filled with ice cream (customer choice), then drizzled with chocolate or raspberry. Dishes also include The Trinity (with Nutella, coconut, and almonds), the Three Wise Men (with blueberry bourbon pecan, strawberry, or raspberry preserves), and The Last Supper (a ham and cheese crepe infused with a house secret sauce).

Ice Cream Factory, a small-batch artisan creamery based in Eldon, Missouri, supplies the ice cream, which uses 14 percent butterfat and spans such flavors as Cobalt Cookie, Strawberry Cheesecake, Gooey Butter Cake, Cake Batter, Peanut Butter Blast and Extreme Mint. Scoops, shakes, and bubble waffle cones are available. (Popular in Hong Kong and Macau as a street snack, a bubble waffle is made from a sweet, egg-enriched batter and cooked on a hot griddle between two plates of semi-spherical “ball” shapes. It is crispy on top and cake-like on bottom, so that it is fluffy inside, crispy outside.)

In the future, cheesecakes will be supplied by City Foundry STL-based Patty’s Cheesecakes.

×

Expand

Courtesy of Holy Crepes!

Bubble cone with fresh fruit; Holy Grail bubble cone

The Atmosphere 

Photo by Lynn Venhaus

Holy Crepes! is tucked into the west end of the Soulcial Kitchen campus in Swansea, Illinois. Its building is flanked by a patio and a back deck with a fenced-in play area that's suitable for children’s birthday parties (with tiny tables and cornhole).

The shop currently offers walkup window service and outdoor seating. “We anticipate opening walk-in ordering, a bakery case, and an artisan small gifts area by mid-June,” campus owner John Michel says. (There won’t be indoor seating.)

Photo by Lynn Venhaus

It joins a growing list of food options at Soulcial Kitchen, including Marco’s Express, a host of food trucks (A Fine Swine, El Guaqo Taco and Soulcial Smash, the Space Shuttle Café), and a craft bar, which Big Daddy’s recently took over. 

“We wanted a dessert parlor," says Michel, "and now we have something for everyone."

The campus also offers live music on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as play areas and a dog park. Michel hopes to eventually add volleyball courts and a 14-foot outdoor screen for screening movies. "We want Soulcial Kitchen to be a community gathering spot," says Michel.

The Team

Michel—a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who's a former fighter pilot, author, motivational speaker, and restaurant owner—launched the Soulcial Kitchen concept in 2021. Besides the fact that it's the first food truck park in Metro East, it also serves as a business incubator and has a charity-driven mission.

The Currency of Caring program addresses food insecurity through a dignified-dining meal program. Meal tokens can be purchased for $8 and used for a hot meal at their food trucks. Soulcial Kitchen also brings hot meals to neighborhoods in need. “We have served more than 6,000 meals,” says Michel.

Photo by Lynn Venhaus

At Holy Crepes!, Michel also plans to employ first-time workers who may have been “hard to hire” in the traditional sense, he says. He's working with the St. Clair County Workforce Development team on staffing, and there will be on-the-job training.

In addition to Michel's work in Metro East, his family operates Aux Délices in Newport News, Virginia. The shop offers scratch-made crepes, as well as Belgian waffles, artisan small-batch ice cream from local creameries, and retail items. The business' slogan: “Life is short. Make it delicious!”

As its website says, “Our goal in creating the boutique was to generate a peaceful space where people are able to connect, unwind, enjoy themselves, and practice what Europeans are naturally good at...the art of lingering, also known as taking time to slow down and enjoy life with the people we love!”

With Holy Crepes!, Michel also hopes to put his family’s French philosophy into practice. “This is designed to unite people,” he says.