A Little Slice of Heaven

When I was little, there was this really cool place I can remember going to eat. My Dad pulled up in this parking lot at the corner of Libbie and Broad. He backed into a parking space under a tin roof type awning and turned the headlights on. A short time after that a woman dressed in a dark green shirt came to the car to take our order. Daddy would say, "4 minced pork with slaw and fries, please." Then, this was the really cool part as a little kid in the backseat of the wood-paneled station wagon, they would bring your food out to the car and attach this really neat tray thing to the rolled down driver's side window, and we would all eat in the car. If you've lived in Richmond, VA, all your life like I have, you know I'm talking about Bill's Barbecue. The amazing thing is, they still do that today.
Bill's was founded in 1930 in Norfolk and then re-located to Richmond in 1931. For 80 years Richmonders have been enjoying Bill's minced barbecue with slaw, real, fresh-squeezed, as-you-wait, limeades, and the item that inspired this post, homemade pies, in particular, chocolate pie.
The first time I remember having a a slice of Bill's chocolate pie was at my Aunt Beulah and Uncle Bummy's house on Monument Avenue. They always had big parties at their house on the weekends by their very fancy swimming pool. There were always a lot of people there and Uncle Bummy would always order several pies, one of which was chocolate. How can I describe this mouthful of chocolaty goodness? First, I have to tell you, I'm not really a pie crust kind of a girl. When I was younger, I always ate just the filling and left the scraped crust for someone else. Enter the slice of Bill's chocolate pie. The crust has this very unique texture and salty flavor that is a perfect compliment to the chocolate cream filling and whipped cream on top. The reason's Bill's chocolate pie trumps all others in my book is that the chocolate filling and whipped cream have just the right amount of sweetness. Most chocolate pies miss the mark for me because the filling, quite frankly, would throw you into a sugar coma. Not so with Bill's and that is what makes it a little slice of heaven.
If you've never had a slice of Bill's chocolate pie, do yourself a favor and drive down to Libbie and Broad and turn your headlights on. You'll be glad you did. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until after Lent. Eat a slice for me! :o)