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Flapjacks flirt with fine dining

Robby's berry-stuffed dessert pancakes have an honored place next to the gourmet food at the Middle Grounds Grill.

By PAUL SWIDER, Times Staff Writer
Published December 12, 2007

	Dave Coover, from left, and sons Davy, Scott and Dan work in the Treasure Island kitchen of Robby's Pancake House in 2005, before its reincarnation into Middle Grounds Cafe. Find more beach restaurants in Tampabay.com's Beach Guide
[Times photo:, 2005]

TREASURE ISLAND - After the herb butter escargot, a goat cheese and portobello salad, and maybe some mango nut grouper, a diner might just pass up the creme brulee and the guava mousse and tuck into a stack of pancakes.

Some might think Robby's pancakes are misplaced on the otherwise gourmet menu at the Middle Grounds Grill, the atmospheric upscale restaurant that replaced the old breakfast house, but America's food service industry would disagree.

"It is a special product," said Rick McKeel, president and CEO of Carbon's Golden Malted, an Indiana waffle- and pancake-mix supplier that owns the flapjack recipe created and made famous by Robby's Pancake Houses. "It's all over the place."

Carbon's bought the recipe six years ago because it was a complement to its waffle product but also because the pancake was developing a national following.

Not only does McKeel sell hundreds of tons of the mix to the likes of Hyatt hotels, he distributes through Sysco and U.S. Food Service, and the mix is also sold in online gourmet stores. Even Amazon.com has Robby's mix. Middle Grounds is even a Carbon's customer for its pancake berry stack.

"We actually buy it back from them," said Dan Coover, whose father and grandfather created the recipe 40 years ago.

Robby's had devised the recipe in the 1960s after owner W.L. Robinson, for whom the Robby's chain was named, broke from Perkins, which took its pancakes with it. After some experimentation, the Robby's crew came up with a buttermilk concoction that was light and fluffy but also had a shelf life.

"It only lasts one day, but most don't even last that long," Coover said.

Over the years, customers raved about the pancakes and the family formed a separate company to sell the mix. Carbon's bought that company when the Coover family started their conversion from short-order breakfast to fine dining. But the pancakes live on in memory and more.

"When we closed down, we had a bunch of people irate with us," Coover said. "We had them hooked."

One of those inspired was McKeel.

"Having been in their restaurant and eaten the pancakes, it made the purchase compelling for us," McKeel said. "Most products are not blended to that level of detail."

McKeel said it is the fine pastry flour and the special combination of otherwise commodity kitchen ingredients that sets Robby's apart. Coover credits care in preparation.

"There's no secret," he said. "Well, there might be a little secret."

Middle Grounds sells the dessert pancakes but also 1-pound cans of mix. Coover said the mix won't get it done if you don't follow the instructions.

Cooks should be sure to combine with buttermilk, be sure to mix according to instructions, and make sure their griddle is properly seasoned and at exactly 350 degrees, Coover said.

"It's the TLC that gets it there," he said.

McKeel also credited Phil Hornik with launching the Robby's brand. Coover's brother-in-law Hornik was in charge of the Robby's mix company and joined Carbon's when the latter bought the recipe. Hornik died two years ago.

"That was a sad loss for our company because he was very well liked," McKeel said of Hornik. "He was the one that got Hyatt."

And now, sitting alongside the sorbet and the chocolate torte is the stack of cakes that made it all possible.

Paul Swider can be reached at pswider@sptimes.com or 892-2271.

[Last modified December 11, 2007, 23:33:26]