French Engineer Who Quit Job At Volvo To Sell Crêpes On A Boat Relocates To S’pore To Open Crêperie
The native of Brittany — where crêpes originated — serves what 8days.sg thinks are the best crêpes in Singapore. He uses buckwheat flour from Brittany flown in via Singapore Airlines that costs “a few hundred dollars” per bag to make his superbly crispy galettes, a savoury type of crêpe.
Frenchman Nathan Nuzzo, 34, doesn’t do things in half measures. When he decided he loved making crepes more than he enjoyed developing products as an engineer at luxury car company Volvo, he quit to focus on his floating creperie in Sweden. The native of Brittany — the coastal region in northwestern France where crepes and galettes originated — started a shop on a boat as a side hustle after attending a culinary course in his hometown.
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Salted caramel crepe
What’s the difference between a crepe and galette?
For the uninitiated, crepes are thin pancakes usually made with plain wheat flour, salt and water, and folded with sweet fillings like chocolate.
Galette stuffed with ham, cheese and egg
Meanwhile, Brittany-style galettes (not to be confused with the French rustic pies bearing the same name) are their heartier, crispier savoury cousins made from buckwheat flour and typically stuffed with ham, cheese, eggs or vegetables — basically a savoury crepe.
Even though his creperie boat biz was doing well, Nathan and his wife Eniko Pongracz, 33, an IT professional from Hungary, decided they had enough of erratic sea life and wanted to set up shop on land. In Singapore, of all places. They now serve authentic, delicious crepes and crisp, savoury galettes at Madam Flod, a quaint, cosy 40-seater on South Bridge Road, which opened in March and is a celebration of Nathan’s roots in Brittany.
Buckwheat flour from artisanal mill in Brittany flown to S’pore via SQ
Nathan imports buckwheat flour for his galettes directly from a family-run artisanal mill in Brittany. “This is unrefined, pure buckwheat flour. It has an IGP (which stands for Indication Géographique Protégée – a label that guarantees the origin and quality of a product),” he shares. “It’s flown in via Singapore Airlines, as it needs to be very fresh and used within a month.” He adds that each 25kg bag costs “a few hundred dollars, including shipping”. He typically imports a bag every month or two.
His galette batter has to rest for two days. “If you don’t do that, it will not have the same crispness or flavour. The batter will be super pale and it won’t spread the right way [on the griddle],” he explains. His crepe batter, on the other hand, is made fresh daily with wheat flour.
All galettes and crepes are cooked on gas-powered, cast steel griddles from Brittany-based manufacturer Krampouz – the same equipment Nathan has used since he first launched his crepe business eight years ago (more on that later).
Started as a creperie boat in Sweden
Around the space, you’ll find nautical touches – photos of a red canal boat also named Madam Flod, as well as a vintage ship’s helm parked in the middle of the dining room.
“I was working as an innovation manager at Volvo [engineer in charge of developing new products] in Gothenburg (the second largest city in Sweden) and I got tired of being in the office. I’ve always loved galettes and cooked them regularly at home, so I wanted to see if it’s something I could do professionally,” shared Nathan.
In 2016, he took time off work to attend a two-week course at a culinary school in Brittany. “It gave me so much joy that I didn’t want to stop! It was the best vacation I ever took.”
Back in Gothenburg, Nathan looked for a small shop to open a creperie as a side business. “I was getting frustrated as I couldn’t find anything suitable. Summer was coming and I wanted to start the business asap. Then I had the idea of doing it on a boat, since I love boats and the sea,” he said.
That love is no coincidence. He adds: “I first studied naval architecture in France, then engineering for my bachelor’s, and finished with a Masters of Industrial Design in Sweden.
Eniko, his girlfriend at the time, was fully onboard. In the summer of 2017, they bought a small second-hand canal boat – already named Madam Flod (‘flod’ means ‘river’ in Swedish, and is also the name of a fictional character from a book by celebrated Swedish author August Strindberg) – and started sailing to different islands around the Stockholm Archipelago to sell crepes.
How they ended up in Singapore
In 2019, Eniko accepted an IT specialist role at Apple Singapore, where she provided technical support. “It was around winter time, and since the boat would be on land and I was getting bored with my job [at Volvo], I decided to quit and join her,” shared Nathan.
Their time in Singapore was cut short when the pandemic hit in early 2020. Nathan returned to Sweden to prep his crepe boat for summer, while Eniko stayed behind. With the short summer season being their peak time, they needed to scale up – so Nathan, who’s also trained as a naval architect, teamed up with his dad to build a second boat, this time selling Neapolitan pizza.
Feeling stuck during Singapore’s circuit breaker, Eniko eventually resigned and joined Nathan back in Sweden. From 2020 onwards, the two of them would rotate between their creperie and pizzeria boats, hopping across various islands and catering for private events every summer.
But the charm of boat life began to wear thin. “We worked so much in Sweden during the summer that we didn’t get to enjoy it anymore,” Nathan admits. “Some days we were working 16 hours – because of sailing time to reach the islands, which can take four to five hours,” adds Eniko.
“We wanted to live somewhere where we could finally enjoy summer all year round. We wanted to go back to Singapore,” Nathan shares.
The couple, who got married earlier this year, invested “around $100K” to launch Madam Flod’s first inland restaurant in Singapore. Both of them prepare and cook the crepes themselves, while a staff member helps to serve customers.
Their original plan was to split time between both countries – returning to Sweden each summer to run the boats, and spending the rest of the year here. That’s looking less likely now as the restaurant goes into full swing. On busy days, they serve over a hundred crepes daily.
“We’re already getting plenty of messages asking when our boats will be running,” Nathan laments. Some of their Swedish regulars have even tracked them down here. “They happened to be here on holiday,” he shares.
Couple DIY-ed most of the creperie’s renovation work
From building a pizza boat from scratch to renovating a restaurant, Nathan has a history of diving headfirst into big projects. “We poured and cast the concrete floor ourselves, made all the wooden tables [in Madam Flod Singapore] … it’s all me and Eniko,” he says proudly.
The DIY spirit is evident in the restaurant’s decor. The space has a laid-back charm with a touch of French bistro flair – warm wood furniture, vintage-style green leather chairs and soft globe lights.
Asked if Eniko has always been supportive of his ambitious schemes, Nathan laughs. “She always thinks I’m crazy.”
“I’m used to it. I’m not surprised anymore,” his wife shoots back.
“I’m a creator. I have to train myself for new ideas. That’s just who I am,” he insists.
No regrets leaving high-flying job at Volvo
This is also why, Nathan says, he has no regrets leaving his previous career behind. “One of my favourite childhood memories is of my summer holidays in the French countryside. A baker would go around in his car selling baguettes and croissants. I wanted to recreate that experience in the Stockholm archipelago, where we go to different places and serve something fresh to the people, and now we’re bringing a bit of that to Singapore.”
Grew up with simpler home-style crepes
He also fondly recalls growing up with crepes at home. “In France, a lot of parents make crepes for their kids on weekends or Wednesday afternoons — that’s known as the kid’s day in France, because school was only half-day,” he explains. “My mother would make simple, home-style crepes. Just fresh and basic, with sugar and butter. And sometimes, if we were being a bit naughty, with Nutella, which I would never put on a crepe now, of course,” he laughs. “We’d have it maybe once a week. It was always a nice moment. The family gathered around the table. It’s such a standard and comforting dish for everyone, big or small.”
The move from Sweden to Singapore was a big lifestyle change, but one they embraced. “It’s two extremes,” Nathan laughs. “In Sweden, it’s extremely cold and dark. Here, it’s extremely warm and bright. But it’s been a good change for us — we like it a lot here. That’s why we came back to Singapore.”
The couple now lives near Outram Park. While their families aren’t based here, they’ve made a few friends.
Meanwhile, Eniko is his strongest anchor. On top of working in the kitchen, she manages staffing and operations at their Singapore restaurant.
When asked if Nathan was strict when teaching her how to prepare crepes, she laughs. “I don’t remember!” says the lanky brunette.
After some thought, she adds: “It’s not easy [making crepes], so I think yes – he was probably strict. But now I enjoy it. It’s a nice feeling when you get it right.”
What’s on the menu
The menu is split between savoury galettes and sweet crepes. Galette toppings include the classic Complète (ham, cheese and runny egg), smoked salmon and ratatouille, while crepes come with sugar, butter and lemon, salted caramel, chocolate ganache and even kaya.
The boozy Crepe Suzette is currently offered as a special, though Nathan says it’ll likely become a permanent item soon. “It’s selling nicely, the sauce is amazing,” he chirps. The dish is flambéed tableside with Grand Marnier.
There are a few simple starters like duck terrine salad and poached leeks, and a well-curated drink list that includes dry and sweet apple ciders from Brittany (Nathan recommends dry for galettes, sweet for crepes), wines, cocktails, beer, coffee, and sodas. Prices range from $10 to $26 for a galette or crepe.
Galette Complète, $18 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Folded like an elegant envelope, this classic Breton galette contains ham, cheese, and runny-yolked egg (with just its runny yolk peeking out). The edges of the thin, buckwheat pancake are our favourite bits – superbly crispy and deeply earthy.
There’s a rich savouriness and toasted aroma in the batter that pairs perfectly with the mildly sweet and nutty melted emmental cheese and thinly shaved ham inside, all elevated by the luscious yolk. To us, this is the best galette in town.
On the side, a simple fresh lettuce salad with house-made Dijon vinaigrette keeps things light. Wash it all down with a glass of bubbly, slightly tart French dry apple cider ($9) to cut through the richness.
Nathan explains that their galettes and crepes are cooked at a higher temperature — not just for a crustier texture but also using a method called kraz, which means “crispy” in Breton. “It’s one of the hardest types of crepes and galettes to make,” Nathan adds. “In Brittany, there are two main types of galettes. The kraz style, like ours, is more common in the west and south of Brittany. The other style, from the northeast, is a bit thicker and softer — not our style, but both are good, just different.”
Galette Salmon, $26 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Light yet indulgent, this option is great for brunch. The silky smoked salmon provides a lovely briny depth, blanched asparagus spears add crunch, and the dill-flecked cream cheese lifts the dish with its tangy creaminess – every bite feels balanced and vibrant.
Galette Ratatouille, $19
A Singapore-exclusive, this galette was added to the menu after the owners noticed that some customers wanted a savoury, cheese-free option. The result is a robust filling of house-made ratatouille with slow–cooked tomatoes, eggplant and olives, complemented with smoky, slightly spicy chorizo. Not bad.
Sugar, Butter & Lemon Crepe, $11 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Decadently drenched in salted French butter and scattered with crunchy brown sugar, the thin, tender crêpe strikes a good balance between a crispy bite at the edges and melt-in-the-mouth softness in the middle. Add a squeeze of lemon for a zesty lift. We also love the plain Sugar and Butter Crepe ($10) where you can taste its buttery lusciousness more clearly — it’s Nathan’s favourite too.
When asked how much butter is used per crepe, Nathan laughs, “On a sweet crepe, I’d say it’s maybe five soup spoons of butter.” He elaborates: “We don’t actually measure it. When you’re making the kraz style crepes or galettes from Brittany, you just use butter generously. It’s one of the pillars of Breton cooking — butter should be generous and taste rich in everything. Even though butter is crazy expensive in Singapore.”
Salted Caramel Crepe, $12 (8 DAYS Pick!)
A richer pick featuring house-made salted caramel sauce that’s balanced and not cloying, generously drizzled and topped with roasted almond slices for crunch. It’s a luscious nutty-sweet treat that fans of caramel will love – though it might be a bit intense to finish solo. Ideal for sharing.
Pandan Kaya Crepe, $14
A local twist that brings together delicate dots of kaya from a local supplier, whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar. The presentation is elegant, and we appreciate the nod to Singaporean flavours. That said, the taste doesn’t quite pop – pleasant, but not particularly memorable. Stick to the classic French flavours.
The details
Madam Flod is at 47 South Bridge Rd, S058680. Opens Mon, Tue & Thur 11.30am-9.30pm; Wed 11.30am-3pm; Fri 11.30am-10pm; Sat 9.30am-10pm; Sun 9.30am-9pm. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Dillon Tan
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