Last weekend, I headed down to Miami Beach with Steve, Dan and Andy, my college roommates. I made it very clear that my only stipulation for our 3 night stay was a trip to Joe's Stone Crab. My father grew up in Miami and throughout my childhood we would make a trip at least once a year down there to visit my grandmother, Vivian. Each trip, there was a mandatory sojourn to Joe's. After my grandma passed away, we stopped going down there, but I've always had vivid memories of the waiters in tuxedos, the pumpernickel onion rolls, the crabs with mustard sauce and the key lime pie.Joe's doesn't take reservations, so Saturday night we hopped in a cab at 5:45 and breezed through the huge waiting area where lines would soon start forming. Our penguin of a waiter, John introduced himself and told us we were in good hands. I knew for starters we had to order their famous cole slaw, which we supplemented with two orders of shrimp cocktail and a half dozen oysters (I think from Loiuisiana). John arranged the appetizers perfectly along our table. The cole slaw was amazing because it had pickles in it and the seafood was perfect.
It seemed that no sooner had we cleaned our plates that John the appeared to take them away. Next he personally tied bibs around our necks, a pleasure that still held the same joy as when I was 6 years old. And then two seconds later there was a pile of jumbo stone crabs on the table.
Along with the claws came the requisite (and famous) hash browns, which John individually divided and served to us. He bid us farewell, and we started our feast.
As we dipped the tender crab meat alternately in the classic mustard sauce and the hot melted butter, I remembered the mighty power of the crab: after a stone crab is caught, one claw is taken from it and then the crustacean is thrown back in the water, where it regenerates its missing limb. Even though the crabs cost an arm and leg (pun intended), the sweetness of the shellfish was worth every penny. What astonished me most about the meal is how well is squared with my memories of the place. High expectations rooted in childhood fantasy is a dangerous place to come from. Isn't it always that no matter how hard you try to recreate your grandmother's matzoh balls, they never come out quite the way you remember? Yet, that night, my grandma Vivian's spirit must have been blessing our feast, because everything tasted just as good as I remembered.Especially the slice of key lime pie which I demanded we order. It was gone so fast I didn't even get a picture. But here's an idea of how good it was:
Going to Joe's is mandatory if you go down to Miami. But don't go alone. At least in my experience, it seems that the company makes the the stone crab that much richer, the key lime pie that much sweeter.
