Banana cream pie with a flaky crust, custard-set bananas and whipped cream, the signature dessert at Frank Fat's downtown Chinese-American room since 1939.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Frank Fat opened the room at 806 L Street, Sacramento in November 1939, two blocks from the State Capitol, and the banana cream pie became the dessert order for legislators and lobbyists working into the night across the street. The pie was a Wing Fat family recipe from Frank's wife Mary, with a flaky pastry crust, sliced ripe bananas folded into a vanilla custard and whipped cream on top, and it has been the signature dessert at Frank Fat's continuously since the late 1940s. Three generations of the Fat family have kept the pie on the menu unchanged, and it has appeared on every list of Sacramento's defining dishes since the 1990s, the city's longest-running named restaurant dessert.
Common allergens: Egg, Dairy, Gluten
Tip from the editors. Slice the bananas just before assembly so they don't brown. The custard must chill fully before topping with cream or the cream slides off.
Frank Fat's on L Street, downtown Sacramento, is the Fat family's Chinese-American room that became the city's political-class watering hole.
Signature: Banana cream pie, Honey walnut prawns
Order: Banana cream pie at the end of the meal; honey walnut prawns
Tip: Booth seating is the photo op. Sister venues across the city under the Fat family banner.
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