When you’re in LA, treading those boulevards of dreams, and you want to sit down and have something sweet, where ya gonna go?
Your Pie Spy visited several iconic establishments throughout the city, some of them better known for other selections than for pie. This turned into a mini urban pie safari. The featured stops along the way included these:
Musso and Frank (www.mussoandfrankgrill.com)
The Original Pantry (www.pantrycafe.com)
Clifton’s Brookdale (www.cliftoncafeteria.com)
And Pea Soup Andersen’s, on the way home, in Buellton (www.peasoupandersens.net).
There was no pie at the Pacific Dining Car, none at the Nickel Diner, or Rincon Criollo, or Tender Greens, or – understandably – at the Formosa Café.
Obviously there are many, many more pie venues in the big city than these, but there were other missions on the urban safari besides eating all the pie we could. It can get overwhelming if you don’t bite off small pieces.
Among these pies, Musso and Frank's apple pie (pictured above) was notable for being the thickest and being served on the prettiest china. Not a fancy restaurant, but it was a standout for the ambience. The fare at M &F is traditional, and maybe even plain. But eating pie where stars have dined – maybe even at our table! - has its own sparkly charm.
The Original Pantry’s apple pie (shown above) came warm and dressed with cinnamon sauce, which wasn’t mentioned on the menu, but turned out to be an interesting embellishment. It was $3.95 a slice, or $1.25 extra if you wanted ice cream with it. (But pretty good without!) That place is always hopping, and you might decide well before you’re hungry to go there – there is often a line out the door.
Clifton’s Brookdale had cherry pie as well as apple, but Pie Spy was tired of apple pie by the time we got there. The cherry (below) was the winner in the price category, at a bargain-licious $2.39 per slice. Tart fruit and buttery pastry. Home/cafeteria cooking that is hard to find in our own part of California. You gotta go to Clifton’s to experience the crazy décor as well as the pie. Notice the moose head and the fancy forest wall decoration, with tree trunk in the right foreground.
And let us not forget Pea Soup Andersen’s. It has been there by the highway so long that maybe you don’t even notice it anymore. Choices of food stops along the road are generally not very good for you. Pea Soup Andersen’s, however, is a welcome alternative to the burgers, pizzas, and chicken buckets. The eponymous soup is vegetarian and very, very delicious, full of protein, and just eating it makes us feel calmer. The copper-topped tables and the non-truck-stop lighting also make you feel more civilized. If you’re not into green soup, try the salad, and if you’ve had enough pie for one week, order a chocolate milk shake. Then you will have the courage to keep on driving. The pie was warm, but as you can see from the picture below, it was a little bit oozy. We neglected to inquire about the makeup of the pastry, but I believe it is vegetable shortening–based. In my opinion it is not quite as good as homemade pie, but even so one should be grateful that pie is anywhere to be had out there on the freeway. And we were very grateful!
The inaugural SoCal Pie Spy mission was a big success. When I can get back into the skinny jeans, I'll be ready for the second phase.
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