The Blue Stove
Maple Bourbon Walnut Pie
Snickerdoodle Cookie
Chocolate Crinkle Cookie
Ranger Cookie with Oats, Raisins, Chocolate
Carrot Cake with Raisins, Pineapple, Walnuts
Spiced Guava Chess Pie with Orange Crème Fraiche
Located in trendy Williamsburg and serving guests for nearly nine years, a long time when considering the rapid gentrification that turned Brooklyn into Manhattan’s near-equal in terms of dining and rent, it was after another meal that a twenty minute walk found The Blue Stove, its location near I-278 at first seeming a bit distant from other businesses but in reality just 4-blocks from an L Subway stop.
Occupying the corner of Graham Avenue and Withers Street with hours beginning at 8am on weekdays or nine on weekends, an all-day affair offering both sweet and savory Pastries in addition to Coffee, Tea and Espresso, The Blue Stove is owned and operated by Rachel McBride Beyers who opened the space in hopes of providing guests the same warm memories she recalled as being baked by her mother throughout the Chef’s childhood.
Rustic yet welcoming in décor, the cases and racks all worn with cracked crown molding above and the eponymous enamel stove standing proud on one side, it was shortly after 11am that the compact eatery was found roughly 1/3 full but soon to get busier, a large list of options at first posing some difficulty in deciding what sounded best but eventually yielding six items with some for then and the rest saved for later.
Friendly as relates to service, a low-volume Soundtrack of classic rock entertaining patrons as well as staff seen hand-rolling dough in back, it was no more than five minutes after settling the bill that items were boxed and a warmed Slice of Pie presented, the combination of toasted Walnuts, Bourbon and Maple Syrup packing a buttery Crust from top to bottom with far less sticky filling than the South’s often cloyingly sweet Pecan version.
Planning to simply snap photos and get a taste for the rest at this point, a fool’s folly as that ‘taste’ quickly escalated to several bites of Carrot Cake that finds its sweetness in Fruit and a thin ribbon of Cream Cheese Frosting, it was showing some restraint and setting aside approximately half that attention turned to an item labeled “Spiced Guava Chess Pie with Orange Crème Fraiche,” each layer individually intense and creamy in its own way but the combination unlike anything ever experienced with sourness melting away to a sweet finish perfumed by Anise.
Slowly savoring each bite of the Chess and debating another slice for the road, a line of six patrons the eventual deciding factor in avoiding further endangering hopes of enjoying lunch, it was almost six hours later that three of Chef Beyers Cookies were tasted, the Snickerdoodle a bit dry and disappointing but rife with Cinnamon while the chewy Chocolate Crinkle and house-special Ranger were both quite good, the latter in particular as its Butter content seemed magnified by finishing Salt rather than muted by Oats, Raisins and Chocolate Chips.
www.thebluestove.com
