Memo:A TABLE FOR TWO

CHESTER CREEK CAFE'S PECAN PIE TAKES THE CAKE
Tom Wilkowske/News Tribune Staff Writer

Jocelyn Heid is not from the Deep South. She doesn't work for the Pecan Advisory Council.

``I just like pecan pie,'' she said.
Heid has lived in Los Angeles; Fargo, N.D.; New York City; Orlando, Fla. -- nowhere you'd call the heart of Dixie. But she knows pecan pie like she was born there and says Chester Creek Cafe/At Sara's Table has the best in town.

She ordered a double latte and I ordered a house coffee, which we sipped while the waitress fetched our pie.

GOING TO PIE SCHOOL

As in so many spheres of human endeavor, the pecan pie world seems to divide into two camps. One, Heid's camp, believes that the best pecan pies have a carmelly, toasted, custard-like filling. The other believes that a super-sweet, gooey base gluing the pecans together is nirvana.

For Heid, the dividing line is a matter of ingredients and technique -- eggs and little or no corn syrup for her method, and no eggs and lots of corn syrup for the others.

In pecan pies you might find in supermarkets or at chain restaurants, ``They use tons of corn syrup rather than eggs,'' she said. ``It's cheaper, it has a more uniform texture. And it's less prone to mistakes. But you don't get the complexity of tastes and textures.''

Heid makes pecan pie pretty much the way Chester Creek Cafe/At Sara's Table makes it, and when our slices arrived, she analyzed the elements for me.

``The filling between the pecans has almost a bumpy texture,'' she said, pointing out the auburn-hued, semi-translucent filling.

The clincher for Heid is the pie's crust -- flaky, not pasty or thick or hard like you might find in a mass-produced pastry. ``This is better than my crust,'' she said. ``This tastes like it has some technique in it.''

NUTS NOT TO LIKE IT

There's probably a reason Heid's nomination jumped out at me -- pecan pie may be one of my favorites. I say maybe because I didn't even realize it until my wife pointed out to me that given the choice, I almost always choose pecan pie over others (except perhaps a good wild blueberry).

Fair enough. I love nuts of all kinds. But Heid's observations rang true to me and the corn syrup factor may help explain why I sometimes get sweeted out by pecan pie. This pie was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, it seemed that the less-sweet, more carmelly flavor actually allowed the natural sweetness of the pecans themselves to shine more.

The nuts seemed to have a little extra toasted flavor and as Heid pointed out, the crust was not a solid mass but lightly browned, flaky and good to the last crumb.

If it's not the best pecan pie in town, I don't know what is. If you don't think you like pecan pie because it's too sweet, give this version a try.

ABOUT THE PIE, RESTAURANT

Diane Bailey is the baker at Chester Creek Cafe/At Sara's Table and she confirmed Heid's hunch that the filling does includes eggs. It has about half brown sugar and corn syrup, with a dash of vanilla and almond extract.

Bailey does toast the pecans (specially ordered from Texas) before assembling the pie. As for the crust, she said ``That's our secret here'' before being generous enough to share it anyway. She uses Crisco, a bit of egg and a bit of vinegar in the recipe. ``Vinegar will make any pie crust more flaky,'' she said.

The restaurant's full name is Chester Creek Cafe/At Sara's Table. Why two names? ``There are two women involved who each have their own ideas,'' said Barbara Neubert, who co-owns the restaurant with Carla Blumberg. Neubert had run At Sara's Table for 10 years in other locations before the new place opened and didn't want to give up the name. Blumberg wanted the new name, so they use both.

The menu has a good helping of vegetarian entrees and sides and an ample selection of fish and meat selections. Breakfast and lunch menus are mostly fixed; dinner entrees change frequently.

The cafe is one of two businesses in the Taran's Marketplace building, which was built in 2002 in Duluth's Chester Park neighborhood.

TOM WILKOWSKE 3is a food reviewer and copy editor for the Wave. He can be reached at (218) 723-5396 Tuesday through Thursday or at twilkows@duluthnews.com.

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Copyright (c) 2004 Duluth News-Tribune