There are some pies worth driving for. The chess pie at the Inn in Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky comes to mind. So does the strawberry rhubarb pie at Wallkill View Farm Market in New Paltz, New York. Then there are the apple pies of the tiny restaurants along the Annapurna trek in Nepal. (Those pies you have to walk to.)
Tonight I sampled four pieces of pie heaven at Henry’s in West Jefferson, Ohio. Set next to Highway 40, (the historic National Road) across from a cornfield not far from town, this place looks more like a 1950s gas station than a restaurant . The reason it looks like a gas station is because it used to be one–and a diner when this stretch of highway was a hopping scene. Now, I-70 to the north takes the big traffic with it.
Still, Henry’s has a place on the U.S. pie circuit. The waitress told us about one Irish rock band that makes Henry’s a stop on when they tour even though it’s miles out of their way. Recently she’s noticed more people she hasn’t seen before pop in for a home-cooked meal and the pie that’s kept Henry’s on the map. I popped in with my family after my daughter’s soccer game since her team played West Jefferson’s, thus our trip there. I knew about this pie because of Tom Barlow’s post about it on the now retired Blogging Ohio. (Tom is now blogging at BloggingStocks) Another person I know drives her mother here once a month for coconut cream pie. Here’s a map from Tom’s post to help you find it.
We had black cherry, peanut butter, lemon and custard pie. We ordered our slices before we ordered dinner. Good thing because there were only a few types left when we arrived at 7 pm. Dinner, by the way was also great–and cheap. I won’t need a soccer game to pull me there the next time. (Here are more photos of Henry’s by Micheal Stern at RoadFood.com)