Haute Cuisine meets Truck Stop

Tuesday afternoon was the first time I thought about a camera at all. My trigger finger twitched uncontrollably when the waitress placed Andre's “strawberry shortcake” on the table with a flourish.

We ventured into the Dupont, PA Petro Iron Skillet restaurant for pie. I ordered lemon meringue, fully expecting what was placed before me. He ordered the “strawberry shortcake”. With whipped cream. And ice cream. I knew that the whipped cream would be whipped topping, that the strawberries would be limp, most probably in bright red sauce. And that the shortcake would be factory made. Experience and disappointment have led to lowered expectations—and powerful intuition—in this arena.

But even I was unprepared for what materialized before us. A magnificent Texas-sized construction, on a canvas of white ironstone. The whipped topping crowned 2 dips of ice cream on which had been lavished brilliant red strawberry topping. Beneath it all, a foundation of 3 thick poundcake slices, each slightly overlapping the next. Drawn onto the rim of the plate with a perfectly even precision that would make any pre-computer graphic artist jealous, were beautifully spaced lines of chocolate syrup.

If there had been a seductive menu photograph of Iron Skillet Strawberry Shortcake, I guarantee that what arrived at the table would have far surpassed it. But please, be assured, I'm not talking about taste. Even now, I wish I knew the identity of the artist. As it is, I am left with this lingering feeling of awe, and the desire to share this experience with others. Which is why I sit at my laptop this Friday evening, clumsily drawing with my mouse-finger.