Read the original French version here.

 

Six months after opening their first permanent crêperie at Denver’s Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Colorado, the couple continues to write the story of Captain Crêpes. Behind this spot, which has become a favorite destination for lovers of Breton galettes, lies the journey of two Belgium and French entrepreneurs who built their project step by step, through farmers markets, a career change and a shared commitment to doing things well.

 

 

A career change that wasn’t really one

Seeing Maxime Rouxel behind his billig today, it is hard to imagine that he spent more than twenty years working in insurance in France. Yet he does not describe his journey as a career change: “I’ve always followed the opportunities that came my way.”

Tired of his daily life in Paris, he enrolled in a master crêpe-making course in Rennes, “as another string to my bow,” before joining Zoé in Denver in 2022. She had been living in the United States since 2010.

Their story had begun in Belgium in 2019, when Zoé returned to her native country for the holidays. A long-distance relationship followed, until Colorado eventually became their home base. A few months after arriving in Denver, Maxime met Alain Veratti, founder of Crêpes ’n Crêpes, who lent him his equipment and entrusted him with his first event. Captain Crêpes was born.

A home port called Cherry Creek

The moment you walk through the door, the aroma of warm butter and buckwheat greets you. Behind the billig, Maxime prepares galettes while Zoé effortlessly switches between English and French as she welcomes customers. Some are discovering Captain Crêpes for the first time; others are already regulars.

On February 5, 2026, after several months of delays caused by administrative permits, the couple finally opened their first permanent crêperie at Cherry Creek Shopping Center. “They called us and said, ‘You can open tomorrow.’ We weren’t ready. We filled three shopping carts with groceries,” Zoé Hess recalls. In the end, they were given an extra twenty-four hours before raising the curtain.

For months, customers who knew them from the farmers markets had been walking past the future storefront, taking pictures and asking the same question: “So, when are you opening?” On opening day, everyone showed up. “There was a lot of curiosity. Our regulars, other retailers from the mall… In the end, it turned out to be one of our best days.”

A community before a crêperie

Long before opening their location at Cherry Creek, Maxime Rouxel and Zoé Hess had already built what mattered most: a community.

For four years, the farmers markets in Louisville, Pearl Street and Lafayette became essential weekly fixtures. Some customers still follow them from one market to another. Others even let them know when they will miss their usual weekend visit: “Sorry, we’ll be on vacation next week…” they tell them before leaving.

That loyalty runs so deep that when Zoé Hess considered reducing their presence at one of the markets after opening the shop, the organizer immediately called her: “The community wants you to stay for the entire season.”

That sense of connection extends to their team as well. Two former customers applied for jobs after confessing that working at Captain Crêpes was their “dream job.” One of Zoé Hess’s former students joined the adventure at just 15 years old and grew up alongside the crêperie before heading off to college this fall.

For the couple, that trust remains their greatest achievement: creating a genuine gathering place long before they ever had a permanent storefront.

A fishing trawler as their compass

We ask Maxime Rouxel what kind of boat Captain Crêpes would be. His answer comes easily: “A fishing trawler. My father’s boat.”

It is an image that perfectly sums up their journey: built patiently, one opportunity at a time, one galette at a time. Six months after opening at Cherry Creek, Captain Crêpes has become a true gathering place in the heart of Denver. Regulars mingle with Americans curious to discover Breton cuisine, French-speaking visitors passing through town and Francophiles eager for a taste of France.

In the heart of Cherry Creek, Maxime Rouxel and Zoé Hess have found their home port. And Denver has found a new way to keep Brittany alive—one galette at a time.

F.D.