Page 93 of Small Town Swoo
By the time I’d gotten out of the shower, there was a voicemail and a text from an unknown L.A. number. The text appeared to be just a house address along with a day and time.
52 Beverly Park Terrace 4:00 Tuesday
I hit play on the voicemail.
“Hi Dash, this is Beatrix. I spoke with Ms. Carroll’s assistant. She’d like you to be at the house at four o’clock on Tuesday. I’ll text you the address. You can call me with any questions.”
Tuesday. Less than a week away. That meant I’d have to change my ticket and fly back sooner than planned. I’dhave to say goodbye to Ari in three days at most. My gut twinged.
Instead of dwelling on it, I called Beatrix back.
“Hello. This is Beatrix.”
“Hi. This is Dash.”
“Hi, Dash! You got my messages?”
“Yes, but was there any other information?” I squinted at my reflection in the mirror above the dresser. “I’d love to know more.”
“She didn’t exactly say. Someone else at the office took the original call from her.” Beatrix sounded sorry to disappoint me. “Should I call her back and ask?”
“Could you? I just want to be prepared.”
“Of course. No problem.” She laughed nervously. “Sorry. I’m new at this. I’m still learning.”
“No problem. Just let me know what she says.”
Too restless and excited to sit around the house, I decided to go to the diner for lunch. I asked my dad if he wanted to go, but he said he had some things to do and disappeared into his bedroom with his cell phone. Smiling, I gave Fritz a scratch behind the ears and hoped my father was calling Julia to invite her to the wedding.
When I walked into the diner, I noticed Ari and a couple other Moe’s employees all huddled behind the counter looking at something that might have been on someone’s phone. I spied an empty stool and had just perched on it when she turned around, like she’d known I was right there.
“Dash!” Her eyes were bright, her smile wide. “It’s posted! The piece Hugo Martin wrote about the diner!”
“Abouther,” said Gerilyn, putting an arm around Ari’s shoulders and giving her a squeeze. “I’m so happy for you, sweetie.”
I set my phone on the counter and slid it toward her. “Show me,” I said excitedly.
She found the article for me and handed the phone back. “Here. I have to grab some plates from the kitchen. I’ll be back in a minute to get your order.”
My heart raced as my eyes skimmed over the words on the screen.
In the heart of charming Cherry Tree Harbor, a family-owned eatery has been serving up tried-and-true comfort food for three generations of tourists and locals. Part homey warmth and part vintage kitsch, Moe’s Diner welcomes you with hot coffee and homemade biscuits as well as a jukebox, chrome and red vinyl, and black-and-white tile floor.
Operated by the DeLuca family since it opened in 1950, Moe’s recently got an infusion of fresh young energy, courtesy of Ariana DeLuca, daughter of current owners Maurizzo and Judy DeLuca, and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Her passion for upscale comfort food is helping to reimagine the menu at Moe’s without straying from what people love about it.
“I don’t want to change Moe’s completely,” says Ariana, or Ari, as she’s known in the small town where she grew up. “I love Moe’s. The people here are family—not just the employees, but the customers too. I still want to give them delicious, filling comfort food that tastes like home. I just want to elevate it a little.”
Her innovations on classic dishes were not immediately embraced. “We like a more traditional diner menu,” Judy DeLuca says. “Not because we doubt her talent, but because we worry that people return to Moe’s again andagain because they know they’ll love it. People get nervous about change.”
Ari struck a deal with her parents. “Once a week I get to put two specials on the board that are a little different,” she says with a laugh, “but the other two had to be Moe’s stalwarts. Two for them and two for me.”
As fate would have it, I stopped in on a day when she had two of her specials on the chalkboard. My opinion?
Her sophisticated twists on standard diner fare are inspired.
The Braised Short Rib Grilled Cheese is a triumph of flavors and textures. The succulent meat, braised to perfection and layered with a creamy gruyère cheese, melts in your mouth. The house-made sourdough is grilled to a golden-brown crisp, offering a satisfying crunch with every bite.
Equally impressive is the French Chicken Pot Pie. Combining traditional French ingredients like shallots, tarragon, and flaky puff pastry, DeLuca creates a pot pie that is both familiar and luxurious.
