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American Pieways reviews

YOUR GUIDES TO GREAT PIE




John Forsyth is a book author and world traveler with discriminating tastes and a storyteller's heart. He and his wife, Jennifer, are traipsing along America's backroads and "pieways" in search of good desserts by the slice and sweet stories. You can find all of their reviews linked from the home page.  Here's to good eating and good reading.
"There are lots of jokes involving pies; they’re funnier than other foods, somehow."
-- The New York Times, June 15, 2009


OUR RATINGS





One slice: You’re in danger of suffering pie withdrawal, and no alternatives in sight.



Two slices: You used to think this was good pie, before American Pieways set you straight.




Three slices: If pies came out of your oven this tasty, you’d start a bakery.




Four slices: Buy another slice to go, ’cause this’ll still be good in the morning.



Five slices: Whoa! Redraw that vacation itinerary to include this pie.





Six slices: Member of the Holy Church of the Flaky Crust.

CONTACTS

 

Camellia Grill, New Orleans, LA




(504) 309-2679

626 S Carrollton Ave
New Orleans, LA

 

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

 

www.camelliagrill.net/#

 

Come time for dessert in the Big Easy and what

do you think of? Bananas Foster at Brennan’s or bread pudding at any of a dozen great restaurants.

     Pie does not immediately come to mind in this city of gustatory greatness, and the search for same might leave you

hopping in a cab to chase after the Hubig’s Pies truck, like we did, only to arrive at a factory closed on Saturday afternoon. Or cautiously steering your car over the don’t-look-down Huey P. Long Bridge (we mistook it for a conveyor belt the first time we saw it, it was so narrow) to the West Bank to check out Southern Sweet Potato Pie Co. in Marrero, and finding that they are packaged sweet potato or pecan pies (or Southerned-Up pound cake) that are sold retail. The sweet potato pie at the Dillard University cafeteria is a great one, but how easy is that to get?
      And finally, you might hop on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar and head west, stepping off where it takes the big right turn at Carrollton Avenue, and partake of the burger-and-pie extravaganza that is the Camellia Grill.

     Two rectangular counters jam-packed with customers on swivel stools are serviced by two waiters who call out your orders to the fry cook behind them. It’s a fun show and quite impressive, even when the cook mumbles his request for a repeat on those orders and the waiter has to say it again.

     We were in town to see Pearl Jam at JazzFest in May 2009, so when we arrived at the Camellia late on Saturday evening after the show, we had fold-up lawn chairs (not needed at the Camellia) and no camera. So Jennifer resorted to photographing the pie with her BlackBerry. Hence, the fine-quality photography displayed here.

     But enough about our circumstances; back to the Camellia. The restaurant, reopened to much fanfare after a Katrina-induced hiatus, is known for its burgers, omelettes, big pancakes and pecan pie.
     And its waiters. You won’t get to meet Harry Tervalon Sr. Harry was the first waiter hired when the Camellia opened in 1946 and became a legend by the time he retired in 1996. He went to that great service counter in the sky in 2007.
     But you might get to meet Leon. He was our outstanding waiter (nametag: “Leon. Knowledge = power”). Leon was entertaining and got our orders exactly right. Those cheeseburgers were outstanding, but so was the pecan pie, with ice cream melting all over it (see fuzzy photo above). And the stout chocolate cream (see bad photo on the home page), with its rich, dark-chocolate layer that made it somehow seem more serious than others of its kind.
     Yes, we were so stuffed by the time we finished, we could hardly walk. But it’s New Orleans; what ya gonna do?

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