There was a time when a slice of pie was a staple of any American dessert menu. That was before tastes changed and pastry trays came to be dominated by more exotic creations: crème brûlée, tiramisu, flourless chocolate tortes. But at the family-owned Frontier Steakhouse, founder Mary Laffoon, age 90, still bakes the restaurant's pies as she has for the past 50 years. The house specialty is peanut-butter pie, but she likes to make sure that there's always apple pie and cherry pie in the kitchen (and, when in season, peach and blackberry, too). Her crust is light and flaky, and her versions of chocolate-cream and coconut-cream pies are silky and decadent and really do taste as if someone's loving grandmother made them in her own kitchen. Laffoon may also be the last restaurant owner in the metro who still bakes and serves gooseberry pie. "People still love it," she says.
