Whidbey Pies Cafe

consumed on 8/6/05

I was visiting my mom this weekend and she suggested that we have breakfast at Whidbey Pies Cafe. In the spirit of full disclosure: My mom works at Whidbey Pies. She has been working there for a while now, but this was, oddly enough, my very first visit. I remember hearing that they were serving breakfast and lunch, but part of my brain just insisted that Whidbey Pies Cafe only made pies and I already get to eat those at least once a month because mom stocks a few in her freezer. So, no reason to visit the cafe, right?

Even though I was predisposed to like Whidbey Pies Cafe, I liked it even more than I thought I would because:

1. It was a beautiful, sunny morning on the island and
2. the cafe was comfy and cozy with a picturesque view of the pond and
3. despite it being 10am, they were serving lunch in addition to breakfast and
4. there was bacon on the menu.

It felt weird ordering salmon chowder ($5.50/bowl) in the morning, but mom highly recommended it. Jan apparently smokes her own salmon out back from the cafe (over Alder wood, I think) and it was stellar. The salmon was smoky and salty and went well with the other flavors in the soup: corn, celery and dill.

Mom ordered a “make your own omelet” ($6.95) which came with a choice of three fillings. Today, she requested spinach, salmon and gruyere. The omelet was gigantic, light and fluffy with a good proportion of fillings scattered throughout. On the side were tender pan-fried potatoes, which were surprisingly good (considering that I’m a hash browns kind of girl). It also came with a selection of Screaming Banshee bread. From what I hear, people either love or hate this bread. It’s made locally on the island and the trademark signature of the bread is that it’s… for lack of a more technical term… burnt. I ordered the BLTini—a bacon, lettuce and tomato panini ($5.75). It came on crisp bread layered with lots of mayo (I’m one of those people who unconditionally loves mayo, so this was a very, very good thing), a few thin sheets of lettuce, the obligatory tomato slice, melted, gooey Monterey jack and lots of crisp, meaty bacon. It was just what I was craving and it was delicious.

We didn’t save room for pie, which was unfortunate because their Marionberry pie is the best pie I’ve ever had. Luckily, my mom bakes one up for me every time I come up for a visit.