3 of 6 Birmingham Restaurants Move Ahead in Quest for Bistro Liquor License

Birmingham Sushi Cafe, Crush and What Crepe? all made the cut Monday night.

The Birmingham City Commission on Monday approved requests for two existing restaurants and one future restaurant to move forward with their requests for bistro liquor licenses. Representatives of six restaurants — including four that are in the planning stages — had five minutes each to tell the commission why their establishment would flourish in Birmingham if granted a bistro license, which is a special liquor license granted to smaller establishments in the city. In the end, the Birmingham Sushi Cafe, What Crepe? and the potential new restaurant, Crush, were chosen to move forward into the next round. The three selections will go before the Planning Board at a later date. Under the city's 2007 bistro ordinance, only two bistro licenses…

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On the Storefront

All Wrapped Up: what crêpe? Coming to Birmingham

From tofu to turkey, from truffle zip to Hollandaise sauces, the fresh, made-from-scratch crepes at what crêpe? will delight any palate.

From designing and producing special events for the Hollywood elite, to creating crepes with flair in Royal Oak, Paul Jenkins will now bring his impresario talents to Birmingham with the opening of his second what crêpe? restaurant on Old Woodward Avenue. Voted as having the best French cuisine by Hour Magazine in 2010, what crêpe? is far from stuffy, Jenkins said. “We are a casual gourmet Euro-intimate destination,”  Jenkins said. “All of our foods are made from scratch. That puts us in the gourmet category. But by making it casual, we lose the pretentiousness.” what crêpe? will open in the former Sandella's location, 172 N. Old Woodward, which closed earlier this year. The expected grand opening is November. A quick glance at the menu …

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