Nine One Five Duval, Key West, FL

 On our last night in Key West, we had dinner at Nine One Five Duval. When we arrived, we grabbed drinks at Point5, their upstairs bar, and we liked our balcony table so much, we asked if we could just hunker down and have dinner there. They were generous and obliged our request.
We started with a nice appetizer plate of dolmas, yogurt, feta cheese, and pea hummus.

I had a beet salad with herbed goat cheese, mixed greens, and walnuts, and for my entree, I had the Sizzling Thai Whole Fish which consisted of a locally caught yellow tail snapper, deep fried, with a Thai chili ginger garlic sauce and basmati rice. It was really good. Kathy ordered the Veggie thin crust pizza from the lounge menu. It consisted of portabella mushrooms, caramelize onion, roasted red pepper, and thyme.

For dessert, we opted to grab a third slice of Key Lime pie at a location of the Key West Key Lime Pie Company. Their version was a lot creamier in texture than others we had tried during our trip.

915 Duval St.
Key West, FL
(305) 296-0669

Kermit's Key West Lime Shoppe, Key West, FL

My favorite Key Lime pie on the trip to Key West was at Kermit's Key West Lime Shoppe.

When we arrived, Kermit himself was at the door greeting everyone. His version of the pie just had the right texture and flavors of sweet and tart. Also the crust was delicious.

200 Elizabeth St
Key West, FL
(305) 296-0806

Keys Fisheries, Marathon, FL

About halfway down on the drive from Miami to Key West, we stopped in at Keys Fisheries in Marathon for lunch. I ordered a Cajun fried hogfish sandwich. Hogfish is hard to get as it must be line caught. The meat is tender and had a great flavor.

I also had my first taste of Key Lime pie in the Keys. The one at the fisheries was nice and tart, and had a crumbly crust.





3502 Gulfview Avenue
Marathon, FL
(305) 743-4353

Pies n' Thighs, Brooklyn

I have been wanting to go to Pies n' Thighs in Williamsburg for a while. Two things I love are fried chicken and pie, they're pretty much never bad, but when they're good, they are divine.  

So I finally made it for lunch with 1000yregg and Redneckhunter.  Since we were eating with our cousins later that evening (and we wanted pie!), 1000yregg and I opted to share a 3-piece chicken box, and I ordered a couple sides.  The chicken was hot, crispy, nicely spiced - perfect.

Redneckhunter got his own plate -- his beloved biscuits and sausage gravy, topped with cheese and scrambled egg -- called the Rob Evans.  He had to hand it to them - one of the best he's had north of the Mason-Dixon line.





The collards we ordered with the chicken were wonderfully bacony. I think it was the best of the sides.  1000yregg liked the hush puppies - they were little and crisp and light, but I tend to like mine bigger and denser.  Mac and cheese was fine, but I needed to save room for PIE!

We each got a slice.  I think Redneckhunter's was the best - banana cream.  Mine was pumpkin, and 1000yregg went with key lime pie.  Graham cracker crusts were buttery, whipped cream was smooth and delicious -- everything was just the right amount of sweet - fresh natural flavors and not cloying.  

Pies n' Thighs
166 South 4th Street
Brooklyn, NY
347-529-6090

Ta, Montreal

We had read about Ta, an Australian pie place that had opened up last summer. Situated on the edge of Parc Jeanne-Mance (near the big Parc Mont Royal), it was a perfect spot to pop in for lunch as we walked up toward Outremont and Mile End from our home base in the Plateau neighborhood.

Not sure if the name Ta is an acronym for Toutiere Australienne, or because it's an Aussie slang way of saying thank you. At any rate, the place was simple, satisfying, and good. They have a variety of pies with traditional (i.e. steak and kidney) and not so traditional (i.e. lamb roganjosh, Thai green curry) fillings.

I opted for the vegetable curry, topped with sweet potato. 1000yregg went Down Under all the way with the "Ned Kelly" (named after the infamous Irish-Australian hero) -- which I think was beef, bacon, egg, and cheese -- done as a "stack" with mashed potatoes, mushy peas, and gravy. I had mine with some HP brown sauce and chutney, though there were an assortment of other condiments to choose from -- everything from traditional ketchup to sriracha.

I knew I wanted to try the Afghan cookie for dessert when I read about it on their website -- a dark Belgian cocoa and cornflake cookie, covered with bittersweet chocolate. It was amazing - really great dark chocolate, and the cornflakes gave it such a great chewy-crunchy texture -- David Chang would have approved.

1000yregg opted for the Lamington, an Australian specialty which is like a petit four, dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut. Interestingly, while we had thought it was chocolate frosting, the cake is actually soaked in chocolate on the outer layer.

They had the story of the Lamington posted on the wall of the restaurant -- how the cake was name for Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland, even though he actually hated the dessert and called it "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits." (though Wikipedia has varying accounts of its origins).

We could only finish 1/2 our desserts, but they were too good to leave behind, so we got a to-go baggie, making for a perfect accompaniment for a mid-afternoon ice coffee break later in the day. If I lived close to this place, I could see myself becoming a regular -- trying all the different flavors, buying frozen pies to take home, and of course, stopping in for those great cookies!

Ta (Tourtiere Australienne)
4520 Parc Avenue
H2V4E3, Montreal, QC
(514) 277 7437

The Pure Pasty Co., Vienna, VA

My friend Claus lives in Vienna, VA just outside of DC, and in the past year, The Pure Pasty Co. opened right near his house. They specialize in making authentic Cornish pasties, which are like large empanadas or Hot Pockets.
The traditional kind has ground beef, potato, onion, and veggies. I like mine with a little HP sauce and some strong mustard.
They also offer other kinds of pasties. The Cornish Masala is filled with chicken & potato seasoned with curry. My friend Claus likes the Philly cheesesteak version. This past Easter, they made lamb pasties that were really good.
Pure Pasty started making 1/2 lb. pork pies in the last couple months as well. These are especially good. I particularly like the pork jelly that is between the crust and the pork.

128C Church Street Northwest
Vienna, VA
(703) 255-7147

M. Wells Diner, Part Deux

After hearing about Fougoo's trip to M. Wells, I knew, as a fan of APDC, I had to make a trip there as well. I went for a lunch last week, sitting at the counter of the diner, watching them prep bone marrows for their escargot-bone marrow dish as I ate.
For a starter, I ordered the pickled pork tongue dish. It came with soda crackers and spicy mustard. The pork pulled apart easily and had a wonderful salty-sour flavor.
I then ordered the green pea soup with foie gras. The soup was sweet and tasted very fresh. However, with the chunks of seared foie gras, this brought the soup up to another level. The fattiness of the liver complemented the mushy pea so well. It felt healthy and decadent at the same time.
For dessert, inspired by a postcard above the prep area of Twin Peaks, I tried the maple pie with a cup of joe. The pie was egg-y & creamy, and it just oozed maple syrup.
I know I need to get back here for their dinner service sometime.


21-17 49th Avenue
Long Island City, NY
(718)425-6917 ‎

Norwalk, CT recommendations

We were up in Norwalk, CT recently staying with friends, and they took us to some great places, so I'm passing on the recommendations.

1) Michele's Pies is a many-time National Pie Championship winner and was recently feature on a Bobby Flay Throwdown. We tried a variety -- chocolate pecan (to die for), mango pineapple macadamia crumb, strawberry-rhubarb, and coconut cream. The winner among these was definitely the 2010 award-winning coconut cream. (Photo from Michele's Pies website)

666 Main Avenue, Norwalk CT 06851 Phone: 203.354.7144

2) Fat Cat Pie Company: According to my friend, the Fat Cat guys are originally wine guys, who then branched into opening a pizza joint and coffee shop. The menu is simple -- thin crust pizza: 1 size, choice of many toppings; salads: choice of toppings; natural sodas and ice cream sandwiches. In fact the food represented 1/4 of the menu, with alcoholic beverages the remaining 3/4.

Crust was super thin and crisp, toppings were yummy, especially the caramelized onions. They also brought a caddy of Penzey's spices to top your pizza with which included the traditional oregano and red pepper flakes, but also Bangkok Curry, Turkish pepper, and other exotic spices. I was a big fan of the curry powder.

The ice cream sandwich (with a very mild and delicious lavender ice cream and chocolate chip cookies) was the perfect ending, and they even cut it into quarters for each of us to have 1 bite!

9-11 Wall St, Norwalk, CT 06850, (866) 322-8123


3) Stew Leonard's: I can't even describe the joy that is Stew Leonard's. It is like no other grocery store I've ever been to. It's like Trader Joe's meets Disneyworld. The Guinness Book of World Records has certified it "The World's Largest Dairy Store." You can watch the dairy in action, you can see live video feeds from the farms - watching cows in the pen as you pick up a nice steak cut from their recently slaughtered brothers (http://www.stewleonards.com/cowcam/), you can watch trains traveling overhead or trapeze-flying animals. And every few minutes you can catch different shows of animatronic food singing their own praises (http://www.stewleonards.com/html/ff5.cfm).



There's a petting zoo outside, and free ice cream cones whenever you spend $100. Redneckhunter knows that if this place was near us and was our regular grocery store, shopping would be an all day affair -- between the Ikea-like maze store design, abundant samples, singing vegetables, pig and cow videos, live animals and free soft serve, he'd never get me out of there. (Photo from Stew Leonard's website)

Ray's The Classics, Silver Spring, MD

I've been the Ray's Hell Burger, and I love their burgers. Needless to say, I was very excited to finally get the another of Chef Michael Landrum's restaurants this past weekend. We went to Ray's The Classics in Silver Spring, MD for dinner, and wow, what another great experience.
Things started with the housemade spice cashews that were at the table as soon as we arrived. They were still warm, and were so good, we finished off the dish before we got to our orders.


For an appetizer, I ordered the Devilish Eggs. They were deviled eggs stuffed with steak tartare and topped with Hollandaise sauce. It was served on a lovely presentation with toast, cornichons, capers, onions and egg yolk.

My tablemates ordered other appetizers. Mike got the wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing. However, the best part was the sprinkling of house-made bacon chunks.

Gubeen ordered the macaroni & cheese which we all shared.











My steak was a Brazillian Picanha cut, or rump cover. Because, Landrum sources his own beef and has it butchered himself, he is able to do a cut like this which is not traditional for US Butchers. It was cooked a perfect medium rare, and it was served with his spicy Piranha sauce.
For dessert, I had a root beer float with homemade ice cream, but I also tried the delicious, tart key lime pie.
For all this food, the price blew me away- probably the same you would pay for Outback Steakhouse, but leaps and bounds better.

8606 Colesville Rd
Silver Spring, MD‎
(301) 588-7297‎