“What if” is something we tend to ask ourselves over and over. What happens when we stop asking “what if” and make it a reality? Allison Chavez, co-founder of Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café, has turned her, “What if I built charitable giving into my business?” question into more than 140,000 meals for children in need.
Chavez’s charitable giving “what if” was inspired by TOMS shoes. After researching the concept of one-for-one; getting a little help from Lauren Bush, the founder of FEED; and taking a look at the Houston Food Bank’s operations; Chavez realized she could incorporate local charitable giving into her company’s business plan and fight hunger in each community with a Sweet Paris.
Sweet Paris’ charitable giving program, Eat Here, Feed There™, is the solution to Chavez’s early dreams. Every time someone orders Allison’s Parfait, Truffled Caprese, or Lemon & Sugar at Sweet Paris in College Station, the crêperie donates 20 cents to The Brazos Valley Food Bank. The Food Bank puts that 20 cents towards a meal for a Brazos Valley child through their School Pantry Program.
“It’s all of our obligations to think of others as we’re being successful and giving back in some way,” Chavez says. “For us, our passion was childhood hunger. We think everyone should be able to give back in some way, but being able to control that and concentrate it to make a real impact was our thought.”
Giving back to the community is easy at Sweet Paris for a couple of reasons. First, by simply ordering a crêpe designated by the Brazos Valley Food Bank’s logo, you’re donating toward a meal for a child in need. Second, the food, atmosphere, and aroma at Sweet Paris is delightful. This is due in part to another “what if” Chavez and her husband shared. When they started Sweet Paris, they set out on a journey to see if they could successfully revive the art of eating crêpes.
“Everything is to-go these days,” Chavez says. “There is something to be said about the European way that kind of forces people to sit down and enjoy your food fresh and cooked to order. We really like the idea that people sit down and enjoy their food in a beautiful space and just kind of really appreciate the beauty of the crêpe and the deliciousness of it.”
While Chavez says the picture-worthy plating of Sweet Paris’ crêpes is a major reason they’ve been successful, she admits the original plan was to serve their crêpes in to-go cones. The original Sweet Paris is in Rice Village in Houston. Two weeks before the Rice Village location opened, Chavez says she and her husband realized Houstonians don’t like to walk anywhere let alone eat while walking. They decided to plate the crêpes and encourage people to sit, eat, and stay awhile. The photo-worthy plating made Sweet Paris’ crêpes shareable on social media. According to Chavez, this is a huge help to the business as an organic form of marketing.
Sweet Paris’ crêpes are not only fun to photograph and share on Instagram; they are also divine to eat. While some menu items are more traditional and similar to what you would find in France, other items are unique and combine international flavors.
“We take it up a notch and make our crêpes Texas-size, not only with the size, but also with the breadth of the flavors,” Chavez shares. “We try to make the menu very international and create a menu on which the crêpe is really the vehicle to stuff with all the good stuff.”
Because the crêpes are so large in size and flavor, Chavez recommends sharing crêpes at Sweet Paris. “People think they’re going to eat a savory and a sweet one in one sitting by themselves,” she says. “That’s an aggressive goal.” Sharing gives you a chance to try even more delectable Sweet Paris crêpes in one visit.
Whether you go to Sweet Paris to soak up the chic European atmosphere, to watch the crêpe crafter making crêpes by hand from scratch, or to simply enjoy a meal with family and friends, you’ll quickly realize Sweet Paris has married two “what ifs” into one sweet reality.
The Chavezes have revived the art of eating crêpes and contributed to the ease of charitable giving. According to Theresa Mangapora, executive director of the Brazos Valley Food Bank, feeding hungry kids is now easier than ever. “Buy crêpes and be part of the solution,” she says. “It is that easy.”
