Gary Keenan of the Village of Sanibel had driven by the key lime pie stand on Micro Racetrack Road more times than he can remember.
So he finally pulled over. He sampled the key lime pie and soon was taking one home. He was going to surprise his wife and her friends who had been playing mah jongg.
“This pie is delicious,” Keenan said.
That put a big smile of the face of Anthony Edmondson, who bills himself as the Key Lime Pie King.
About twice a month, he sets up his big white Taste Buds tent on Micro Racetrack Road, about halfway between County Road 466A and Lake Ella Road.
“Real Key Lime Pie is not green,” he said. “And it does not have a soft ‘pudding’ texture. The pie gets its true pale yellow color from the egg yolks that predominate the ingredient list.”
The recipe is the Florida native’s own.
Everyone who drives up must take a sample.
“You don’t buy it, until you try it,” he insists.
Rick and Mary Gerstenberg of the Village of Duval recently stopped by and had a sample. Like nearly every one who stops, they went home with a pie.
Those who buy get 10 slices for $20.
“That’s $2 a slice,” said Edmondson.
The Key Lime Pie King holds a business license and food safety license. He keeps them on display in a binder whenever he sets up his tent. He leases the land on Micro Racetrack Road where he has become a familiar sight.
He’ll gladly put customers’ pies on ice if they are more than a half hour from home.
Another binder has more than 1,000 signatures of customers who have been impressed with his pie.
He has been selling pies on Micro Racetrack Road for nearly two years. On a good day, he sells 50 pies.
“I am confident that I have the best key lime pie,” he said.
He only sets up his tent twice a month.
“I took my lesson from the Girl Scouts. They don’t sell cookies all the time,” he said.
Look for him again around Easter.
