12-year-old girl is entrepreneur behind the new Southside ice cream shop

Co-owners Adelle Pritchard, left, and her mother Carla pose for a photo at Adelle's Ice Cream Creperie inside the Granfalloon event space on Friday, July 1, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Photo by  Doug Strickland  /Times Free Press.

Co-owners Adelle Pritchard, left, and her mother Carla pose for a photo at Adelle's Ice Cream Creperie inside the Granfalloon event space on Friday, July 1, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Photo by Doug Strickland /Times Free Press.

Chattanooga's hip Southside neighborhood now has a new ice cream shop and creperie, thanks to an entrepreneurial-minded 12-year-old girl who fell in love with the thin pancakes during family summer trips to France.

Adelle's Ice Cream and Creperie opened Wednesday inside the Granfalloon, an event space at 400 E. Main St.

The breakfast-dinner-place that's open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. is named after Adelle Pritchard, a soon-to-be seventh-grader at Normal Park School who had the idea to open the eatery. She's the daughter of Ken and Carla Pritchard, who own the building that houses the Granfalloon.

"This is really her dream, her idea to open a little creperie," Carla Pritchard said.

Crepes are big in England, where Ken Pritchard is from, and the Pritchards eat the thin pancakes on such occasions as Fat Tuesday — which in England is called "pancake day."

"There are crepes almost anywhere in France," Adelle Pritchard said. "That's where I got inspired from, because I go to Europe every summer."

The 12-year-old was involved in all the aspects of the new business, her mother said, from working on the business plan and logo to the menu and decor.

The menu has five savory crepes that include a side salad for $7.99, such as the "Better With Bacon," a combination of bacon, egg, gruyere cheese and hollandaise sauce. Or, customers can create their own $7.99 crepe with three ingredients.

Sweet crepes, such as a Nutella with powdered sugar, range from $4.25 to $6.25. Ice cream ranges from $2.25 for one scoop to $5.25 for a sundae, and Adelle's offers ice cream shakes and floats, too.

"We have milkshakes that are awesome," Carla Pritchard said.

Cold-brewed coffee is another perk of eating at Adelle's.

Adelle's offerings are made with natural ingredients, Carla Pritchard said. The meats are antibiotic- and hormone-free, and Adelle's offers Mexican Coca-Cola, which some prefer because it's sweetened with cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Adelle's manager Melissa Christiansen has "been great about searching out ingredients that are natural and non-processed. We were careful to find an all natural ice cream. You can taste the difference," Carla Pritchard said.

Adelle's is open Monday through Saturday.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetfor business or 423-757-6651.