Le Casse-Croûte Taking Over The Streets Of Bengaluru With Authentic French Street Food

The French have arrived and they are slowly turning over the streets of Bengaluru on its head. Le Casse-Croûte serves authentic French street food from from their swanky food truck throughout the week. Although French food in Bengaluru is restricted to high-end places where you have to pay extra for the bells and whistles, Le Casse-Croute promises delicious food made from original recipes at a fraction of the cost. The menu consists of 7 different varieties of toasted sandwiches with fillings suitable for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians, including chicken, bacon, seafood and a combination of freshly made mozzarella cheese with fresh veggies.

We had an exclusive chat with Nicolas Grossemy, one of the co-founders of Le Casse-Croûte, accompanied with some amazing croques, while talking about the food truck and what the future holds for Le Casse-Croûte.

Food Trucks Are In

Le Casse-Croûte is a passion project for the founders of Le Casse-Croute, Nicolas Grossemy, Nicolas Mirguet and Johanne Barbier. The idea for the food truck came about when Grossemy was doing an internship in Indira Nagar. The plan, initially, for venturing into the food world of Bengaluru was to start off with restaurant and cafe serving affordable French food. “We wanted to start a restaurant first with casual atmosphere, where we can have affordable French food unlike many restaurants in Bengaluru. At the time, there weren’t many restaurants in Bangalore where you can go to have French food, ” says Grossemy.

Although the plan for the restaurant/cafe did not work out due to logistical issues, it gave Nicolas the motivation to venture into the food truck business. “The first plan was to open an restaurant and a café, but it didn’t work out and we faced many issues, especially finding place. So, that’s why we decided to start something more operational like a food truck.”

Launching Le Casse-Croûte

Le-Casse Croûte was launched in September of 2015, with an opening event held at Alliance Française in Bengaluru. Although, initially, Grossemy expected the food truck to cater to the ex-pats in Bengaluru, the quality and authenticity of the food served has turned the food truck into a street-wide sensation in Bengaluru. “We didn’t expect that much of a response. At the beginning, I thought more of the the ex-patriate community will come to our truck. But I will definitely say, its not that at all. We have a lot of loyal Indian customers now, who are bringing their friends to enjoy the food. That’s the part I’m really glad about.”

As the food truck gains more recognition, the name Le Casse-Croûte has become synonymous with French food in Bengaluru. “Even when I’m sometimes on the streets, I hear people saying, ‘oh, let’s go to Le Casse-Croûte’. We are really glad about that because as a brand the food truck is getting popular now.” The recognition, according to Grossemy, has come from a distinct desire to keep the quality and the authenticity of the food high from the beginning.

Inspiration Behind The Food

The inspiration behind the food served at Le Casse-Croûte has always been to replicate the authentic street food served in France. Although there were a few modifications of the recipes to suit the Indian palette more, Grossemy says the recipes and the food are the same. “We basically serve French street food. These are the recipes which we used to make in France, especially during lunch time. During lunch hours, people usually don’t have the time to spare to go to a restaurant or even make something for themselves, which is why they usually tend to visit the local bakery. In France, we call this place, boulangerie. It’s sort of a bakery where you can buy toasted sandwiches or baguettes.”

Le Casse-Croute’s authenticity comes from the fact that every ingredient in the toasted sandwiches is freshly made. From the toasted sandwiches to the delicious fillings, it is all home-made. “The food that we do is toasted sandwiches. We are implementing one bread which we make with maida. It’s kind of a cross between panini and pita bread. So, its really soft inside and you also have the small crust outside because we toast it before serving.” The constant need to innovate and add a twist to the food served at Le Casse-Croûte helps in introducing new sandwiches and new items on the menu. “We have seven different sandwiches, with chicken, bacon, seafood, omelette. We also have sides like fries and gespacho and from last week, we have started to offer veloute, with pumpkin. We also serve desserts and drinks and we have a couple of surprises on the menu coming up real soon.

Trucking Along The Streets Of Bengaluru

The idea behind a food truck is to give your customers a personalised touch in service and the food that is served on the truck. Le Casse-Croute is no different when it comes to reaching out to its customers. Grossemy and his team travel to different areas in Bengaluru during both lunch and dinner hours. Although a few days of the week in spent near their kitchen in New Thippasandra, the food truck is always raring to hit the streets of Bengaluru. “The food truck helps in becoming really close to our customers. We are parked in New Thippasandra twice a week but we are also getting loyal customers from everywhere else. Every week, we can see people are just coming back and they bring their friends and all. We get more close to the people and that’s what makes it so much more fun and cool to be in a food truck compared to a restaurant that we were supposed to do before.”

The Deets

If you are in the mood to indulge in some mouth-watering French food, check out Le Casse-Croute’s food truck. You can track the truck through their website, with weekly schedule posted on the website. You can also get up-to-the minute details of where the truck is located through their Facebook page. Le Casse-Croute’s menu is also available through Swiggy, and you can order their food at any time during the week, from 11:30am to 10:00pm.