Butter in Brittany

Wandering around Brittany this week, I made an important discovery. Butter is so ingrained in the culture of Finistère — a département in the extreme west of France — that the town of Quimper named a square after the stuff: Place au Buerre. Historically, this cobblestone square hosted the village market; today it's home to a handful of crêperies.

I ate at one of them, Au Vieux Quimper, for a lunch of crêpes and apple juice.

There was a savory buckwheat crêpe filled with a gut-busting combination of bacon, cheese, and mushrooms cooked in cream.

  

Dessert crêpes are made only with white flour, and are tender with crisp edges. Mine came filled with caramel au buerre salé — an invention created for tourists, I later learned. Still, I enjoyed every sticky, golden drop.

Au Vieux Quimper

20 rue Verdelet

Quimper, 29000

tel: 02 98 95 31 35