Before Crepe Glazik became the kind of place people line up for in Makati, BGC, and now Shangri-La Plaza, it was simply a home kitchen trying to keep up. Back in 2020, Nicole and Neven Charpentier were making crepes out of their condominium during the pandemic, donating crepes to hospitals to help frontliners.
But it wasn’t long until they started receiving orders, and the demand grew faster than expected. What started as a small home-based operation quickly turned into something much bigger. “We couldn’t keep doing it at home. Definitely not,” Neven recalls. “We were in a condominium, using our really small kitchen to make hundreds of crepes every day.”
Nicole saw it happen in real time. “There was huge demand for crepes,” she says. “Imagine, from a home, putting out thousands of crepes. There were really long lines of Grab drivers outside our place.”
That moment, more than any grand business plan, pushed Crepe Glazik toward expansion. They needed more than a bigger kitchen. They needed a real home for the brand.
Betting big on crepes
For Filipino diners, that growth story feels familiar. Many beloved food brands here begin small, often from home, then grow through word of mouth, social media, and loyal customers who keep coming back.
Crepe Glazik followed that same path, but with one thing setting it apart: Neven’s deep commitment to authenticity.
He is from Quimper, Brittany, the region in France where crepes and galettes are not just café fare but also part of everyday culture. He grew up making and eating crepes; he’s been making them at home since he was six years old. That Breton identity shapes everything at Crepe Glazik—from the unique Breton technique and the authentic ingredients to the signature crisp, lace-edged finish of the galettes themselves.
“A good crepe starts with the flour, especially for the galette,” Neven explains. “The way buckwheat is made in France is unique. The way it is milled, there is still a bit of fiber left in it, and that fiber gives extra taste.”
For him, authenticity is not just about calling something French. It is about using the right flour, the right butter, real cheese, proper equipment, and the traditional Breton way of spreading batter on the crepe maker. “The way I spread the batter on the crepe maker, it’s really a Breton technique,” he says. “And crepes have to be cooked at a high temperature. If you don’t cook them hot enough, you don’t get the roasted flavor.”
Reinventing crepes
That dedication to the craft is exactly what his wife Nicole believed could resonate with local diners. “For me, it was really two things,” she says about why the concept worked. “One was the demand. And second, the gap in the market. The authentic crepes of Crepe Glazik really set us apart.”
“The authentic crepes of Crepe Glazik really set us apart”
The menu itself reflects that mix of tradition and creativity. The savory buckwheat galettes showcase the kind of crepes commonly eaten in Brittany, while the sweet crepes lean into indulgent combinations that appeal to Filipino dessert lovers.
One of their biggest hits actually came from a personal moment. “The lemon pie crepe was born because I asked him to bake me a lemon pie for my birthday,” Nicole laughs. “When he did it, I told him, you know, this could be really good as a crepe.”
Neven then transformed the classic French dessert into a crepe with lemon curd, meringue, and a matching gelato.
The gelato itself is another part of what makes Crepe Glazik different. Instead of sourcing it elsewhere, Neven learned to make it himself, even traveling to Italy to understand the craft. “Once you know the rules for making a good gelato, you are free to create,” he says. “For example, if I have a praline crepe, then I can make a praline gelato to pair with it.”
Nicole adds that pairing crepes with housemade gelato became one of their signature ideas. “The fact that the gelato is made in the restaurant and matched to the crepes is something you don’t usually see.”
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Crepe expectations
Still, authenticity alone is not enough. For Crepe Glazik to work in the Philippines, the flavors also had to resonate with local diners. “The goal is to find a balance between adapting to the market and not compromising on quality,” says Nicole.
That approach led to creative combinations like chocolate mango, which Neven admits was not originally his idea, but still managed to infuse traditional techniques to make it uniquely Crepe Glazik. “This one is not for my taste at all,” he says with a smile. “It’s really for the local market. But I can see chocolate mango is one of our bestsellers.”
As the brand grew from its first small branch to larger mall locations, the couple remained careful about expansion. “We want to make sure that every Crepe Glazik that opens has the same quality as the original one,” says Nicole, who works at one of the biggest banks in the Philippines. “Same quality, same service, same type of operation. So steady growth is what we are after.”
“We want to make sure that every Crepe Glazik that opens has the same quality as the original one… Steady growth is what we are after”
Even with larger kitchens and more seating, Neven still treats each plate like it came out of that original condominium kitchen. “My role as chef is to make the difference between what I want to serve and what is actually served as small as possible,” he points out.
And in a country that loves both comforting food and exciting discoveries, maybe that is exactly why Crepe Glazik continues to grow. Because Crepe Glazik just happens to be one of those rare finds: a little slice of Brittany that feels right at home in Manila.
Photos by Jar Concengco. This story was published in the first issue of F&B Report 2026
