If you like pie, you'll love Fireman Derek's

Fireman Derek's Bake Shop, coming to the Grove soon.

You may have noticed the signs up at the new location for Fireman Derek's Bake Shop at 3435 Main Highway. The Wynwood favorite is coming to the Grove and hopefully will open before the holidays. Patrick Murdock, Jr., sales and marketing manager of Derek's tells me that Thanksgiving is their busiest time of year, so they hope to open by then."We have been working with the city for the past few months to get all our permits and everything done right so that there's no problems down the road. Construction is planned to start sometime next week," says Patrick Jr.

Fireman Derek's is about two firefighters, Derek Kaplan and his benefactor Patrick Murdock. Patrick would always brag to his wife Kim about the incredible pies Derek would make. Patrick passed away suddenly at age 45 and left an insurance policy for his family. Kim knew what to do with that and she promptly invested in Derek and Fireman Derek's Bake Shop was born.

Fireman Derek's Bake Shop in Wynwood

The pies are very rich. You could pierce a slice with a fork and hold it up like a lollipop, it was that thick and rich. 

What's interesting about the whole thing is that it's a sort of home-coming for Kim. When she was 21, she bought Hattie's Place and turned it into Tavern in the Grove! And now the Grove location is sort of across the street. I was talking about the old Grove yesterday. Hattie was the lady who sat at the front of a diner sort of place where Le Bouchon is now. I think she took payment, too. She always wore a big fancy hat and sort of sat at a podium-sort of thing. She was known by everyone. When a bar was opened next door, before it was Tavern, it became Hattie's Place, named after Hattie from the diner next door.

You can see just some of the pies offered at Fireman Derek's here: https://firemandereks.com/

Fireman Derek's makes excellent coffee, too. Something that we have a lot of in the Grove.

Along with Fireman Derek's opening, there will be Blue Bottle Coffee which is opening at 3034 Grand Avenue, the former Johnny Rockets location.  There seems to be a standstill at that location these days, but that is the plan. Blue Bottle was born in Oakland, California. Their vow is to only sell roasted coffee that is 48 hours old or less. They feel that is where you get the peak flavor. They promise to use only the most delicious, and responsibly sourced beans. Unfortunately, the wait for Blue Bottle will be six months or more.  

Across from Blue Bottle is the "new" Starbucks, which is taking up home at the corner of McFarlane, Grand and Main Highway while CocoWalk is renovating and then they will return to CocoWalk. 

Across from there is Panther Coffee . Across the street is the new Bookstore & Kitchen, which sells pies and coffee and around the corner on Commodore Plaza is the new Present bakery and coffee shop.

In between there are many places to sit and have coffee and desert - Le Pain Quotidien, GreenStreet and all of the other restaurants up and down the streets.

So if you love coffee (and pie), you are in luck!

Some of Fireman Derek's delicious pies. (Photo courtesy Fireman Derek).