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A brand new creperie has flipped open on Pulteney Street, bringing sweet and savoury creations with Ukrainian influences to a relaxed CBD café.
Husband-and-wife team Yuliya and Volodymyr opened FAINO Crepes & More on 25 July, and the venue is already drawing a morning rush of coffee-and-crepe seekers, followed by busy lunchtime crowds.
For the couple, FAINO is about more than serving crepes. They wanted to create a place where people could enjoy delicious food, discover Ukrainian cuisine and feel completely at home. Their original idea looked quite different, with the couple first considering a café focused on croissants. However, they soon found themselves drawn back to a dish that felt more personal.
“Crepes are one of the main dishes for Ukraine, and it’s easy to match any feeling with crepes, whether you want savoury or sweet,” Volodymyr said.
The menu moves between substantial savoury dishes for breakfast or lunch and sweeter options suited to coffee, dessert or an afternoon treat. The café’s most popular dish so far has been the Chicken Julian crepe, which is based on a French recipe.
For something sweet, the poppyseed and cottage cheese crepe has been a big hit, bringing together flavours that are particularly familiar across Ukrainian and Eastern European cooking.
“People like it because it’s a bigger crepe than usual … with one crepe, people can feel full … so they’re enjoying it.”
The café’s name also reflects the kind of experience the couple hopes to offer. While there is no exact English translation for the Ukrainian word “faino”, Volodymyr said it can be understood as meaning something nice, beautiful or simply good. That easy sense of comfort carries through the venue, which has been designed as somewhere people can catch up with friends over a meal or snack while smashing out a work project.
“People in the morning come with laptops and sit, drink coffee and do work on their laptops,” Volodymyr said.
Since opening, the couple has been encouraged by the response from customers, particularly during lunch when the café quickly fills with people stopping in. With its personal story, welcoming atmosphere and menu inspired by flavours close to its owners’ hearts, FAINO Crepes & More is introducing Adelaide diners to a different side of the humble crepe.
FAINO Crepes & More
When: Monday – Wednesday 7:30am to 4pm, Thursday – Saturday 7:30am to 9pm, closed Sundays
Where: 443 Pulteney Street, Adelaide
For more information keep an eye on their socials.
