Gregory Autret is originally from the Brittany region in western France.
He came to Dublin nearly 20 years ago for a holiday and decided to extend his stay.
And, after getting his degree in Food Studies, he came here and noticed that there was a real lack of traditional creperies in Dublin.
Gregory decided to put his long held passion into action after a decade of living and working here and opened his very own creperie in Dublin to give the people here a true French experience.
Le Petit Breton is in the heart of Drumcondra and has become a spot for friends to meet for coffee, to go for brunch with your partner and it’s somewhere you can treat the kids to a sweet pastry.
Gregory told Dublin Live: “I moved here after studying, I was only meant to stay a couple of months but here I am.
“I opened six and a half years ago, so back in 2015. I've been here almost 20 years, there’s no real creperie in Dublin, I think I’m the only traditional one which is very unusual.
“Creperies are very popular all around the world and I thought it’s an idea that would work.
“I’ve a sweet tooth when it comes to breakfast, Irish people prefer their savoury but the most popular dish here is actually the continental breakfast, it’s quite filling as well.
"It's popular at the weekends. There’s fresh bread, fresh crepes, orange juice, tea or coffee, it’s all included.
“Kids love the crepes, they love the salted caramel one and we make the sauce ourselves.”
Le Petit Breton thrived during the pandemic with takeaway orders becoming hugely popular among the locals.
Gregory said: “During Covid we couldn’t sit anyone inside for a while, it was only take away orders only. I had no staff for the first three months of the pandemic, so I started selling my products like we are using in the restaurant like cheese and that.
“It was going quite well week after week. I only had one table of products, then it was two, then it was the whole restaurant.
“Flour was very popular as well, most of the shops were out of it at the start of the pandemic.”
Gregory’s father was a chef and restaurateur and his mother grew all the fresh vegetables for the restaurant in the garden of their family home, in a sleepy fishing village in Finistere, meaning the “end of the earth”.
His mother also ran a food hall where she made crepes using an old family recipe. This upbringing gave Gregory a real appreciation for good quality food and he proudly carries his family’s fourth generation crepe recipe here in Dublin.
He concluded: “My cafe is always busy and pretty much everything comes directly from France.
“About sixty to seventy percent of our customers are regulars, they’re very nice people, I picked a great location.”
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