The summer of 1993, I spent every day longing to get off work and ride my bike here for the nearly perfect key lime pie. Key lime pie was the theme of that summer for me, and I tried every version I could find: Coco’s, Denny’s, Larry’s . . . that year, the one at Larry’s was voted "best key lime pie" by The Seattle Times, and it was undeniably superb, but not my fantasy. Marie Callendar’s is abundantly creamy, and topped with enough whipped cream to make every bite deliciously nauseating. The graham cracker crust is wonderfully crumbly (at its worst, kind of hard and almost pebbly, but that’s rare), and the filling so insanely tangy that I can’t believe I used to be able to eat my own large slice and then finish that of my guest. I’ve tried the pie since then—very recently—and it’s just as good as ever, but now I can only eat two bites before I want to put it away for later.
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