Danielle and Adrienne Jeffrey, Co-owners, Sweet Iron Waffles
1200 Third Ave, Suite 110, 682-3336
So you're co-owners of the new Belgian waffle shop Sweet Iron Waffles, and you also happen to be mom and daughter. Who had the brilliant idea of combining a waffle with Brie cheese and basil?
Adrienne Jeffrey: They serve Brie with their waffles at the Waffle Window in Portland. Once you've opened your mind to new ideas, though, things that don't sound good actually end up working. The creaminess of the cheese and the sweetness of the waffle kind of works.
Danielle Jeffrey: Kind of works? It really works. No modifiers, Mom.
Your waffles are also sweeter than the kind you'd find at IHOP because they contain little pieces of burned "pearl sugar." Is that why you don't serve 'em with maple syrup?
A: That's why. Because traditionally they're not served with maple syrup. And there's honey in them, too, so you really don't need more sweetness.
Did you go to Belgium for waffle research?
A: Yes. Danielle and I went to Belgium to take a class and learn how to make waffles. We also had to cart 50 pounds of pearl sugar because we couldn't buy it out here very easily.
D: When we were leaving Amsterdam, airport security was like, "What is that?"
How many did you eat?
A: We probably bought at least a hundred. I don't know if we ate them all. We'd be so full of waffles that we wouldn't be hungry for dinner. Then we'd eat them at night and feel sick.
D: We took the tasting trip very seriously.