Oh My Apple Pie (OMAP)

Have you been to the Peninsula Creamery Fountain and Grill in downtown Palo Alto? It's an old fashioned diner located on the southwest corner of the intersection at Emerson and Hamilton. The food is good, I've eaten there a few times, but it's their pie display case you'll remember even if you don't order a slice or step foot inside of the restaurant. As you pass or enter through the Hamilton side door, you can see the display case from the sidewalk. One pie in particular captivated me the moment I laid eyes on it years ago.

They call it "Apple Pie" but a better name would be the "Foot High Apple Pie" because that's how tall I think the pie is with its huge, domed, crystalized sugar crust. Hubby said this picture doesn't show the scale well enough but if you look at where the pie plate ends, then consider how much pie crust you see above it I think it gives you a pretty darn good idea of how ginormous this pie is!

So, the other night I finally ordered a slice. LOL a lot of my friends freaked out when our server brought it to the table and they saw how big it was. One bite and all I could think was OMAP.

Here's my report: The apple pie filling was perfection. You can tell it was made from scratch with fresh apples, not that syrupy canned filling you get in a lot of pies. When I offered a bite to anyone who wanted to try it at the table my friend Gordon came away with what suspiciously appeared to be half of an apple on his fork. LOL. The flavor of the filling was excellent and the texture wasn't too gelatinous the way canned filling can be.

And the crust was equally perfect. You can tell from the photo above that even the bottom crust was dry and flakey. And that bit of granulated sugar that had caramelized over the top of the crust elevated the pie above and beyond any other restaurant fruit pie I've ever had.

To think I've been missing out on this for so many years, always admiring from afar but never partaking.

If you enjoy old fashioned diners you should consider a visit. There's plenty of seating, a wrap around counter, a working juke box, both modern and classic diner food and nostalgic beverages like egg creams, hand scooped milk shakes, and the classic root beer float.

They're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Downtown Palo Alto Creamery - website
566 Emerson Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Phone 650.323.3131

Stanford Shopping Center
(Facing El Camino Real)
Stanford, CA 94304
Phone 650.327.3141