Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies

If you've been anywhere in Red Hook, you've probably seen signs for Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies. They look marginally better than those for a kid's lemonade stand --- that's not an exaggeration: we passed a little girl's lemonade stand when we were in the neighborhood this weekend, and her signage rivaled Steve's --- and many of them don't even mention the name of the business. The signs just say, "Key Lime Pie," as though it were self-evident that you'd want such a thing while wandering around Red Hook. Everyone finds their way to Steve's, though, and his key lime pies, all handmade, are reputedly the best around.

We say "reputedly" because neither of us particularly likes key lime pie. The sign on the door at Steve's, which lists what is not available there (coffee, other kinds of pie, real estate tips), makes it clear that diversification is not a noun tossed around much down on Pier 41. Steve's has one other dessert, and it's a doozy: the Swingle, a key lime tart dipped in dark semi-sweet Belcolade chocolate, frozen, and served on a stick, like an overgrown popsicle. Here, the chocolate-and-citrus combo almost rivals that other famous duo, chocolate and peanut butter, largely because of the rich, crumbly pie crust that gives the Swingle its satisfying texture and allows the chocolate to blend with the ever-so-piquant citrus rather than collide with it. Sitting along the waterfront, a Swingle in your hand, watching the boats ply the harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty --- what could be better than that? Oh, that's right: a Swingle in your other hand, too.