Any sports fan will tell you: Never mess with a winning streak.
Robb Tallas, goaltending coach for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, knows this better than anyone. On June 17, the Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the championship series for the second year in a row, meaning a repeat of the tradition of having each member of the team and staff spend a day with the trophy.
This is why on Friday, when he finally got his turn with the Stanley Cup and threw a party at his Parkland home, Tallas made sure to stock up on Fookem’s Fabulous Key lime pies from Coconut Grove, just so he could eat one out of the Cup. Again.
Players, coaches and staff have ingested all sorts of food and drink out of the Cup over the years. Last year former goaltender and current Panthers special advisor Roberto Luongo ate pasta from it at Heritage Italian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, while this year the Cup made its way to spots like Jaxson’s Ice Cream in Dania Beach. And as always, players swilled beer out of it in front of cheering crowds at the Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale.
When it was his turn in 2024, Tallas, a former goldtender for the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks, wanted a Key lime pie for his Cup moment. And when the Panthers won a second time, he was not about to court disaster by changing things up. After all, the powerful Cats have the opportunity to win a third Cup starting in October.
“Any coach, athlete or anyone in the sports world would be lying if they said they didn’t have a touch of superstition,” he said. “I didn’t think twice not to do it again.”
Fookem’s Fabulous is the brainchild of Joshua Abril, who in 2020 started baking pies at his Coconut Grove home and selling them in his front yard. Fans around the Grove and beyond lined up to get in their orders, drawn by the marriage of tart fruit and sea salt graham cracker crust.
In November 2024, Abril opened a brick-and-mortar pie shop nearby on Grand Avenue. He also sells the pies at spots around town like Josh’s Premium Meats in South Miami and such Miami restaurants as Atchana’s Homegrown Thai, Botanico Gin & Cookhouse and Sandbar Sports Bar in the Grove. He stocks a Fookem’s vending machine at Julia & Henry food hall in downtown Miami, too.
He called Tallas’ order for the Cup “an unimaginable honor.”
“To be the first ever Key lime pie eaten out of it, right here in South Florida?” he marveled. “The first is always special. To be invited back to celebrate again, it’s unreal. It’s an honor to now be a tradition associated with the Florida Panthers and the Stanley Cup.”
Tallas chose to eat the classic Key lime pie, but Fookem’s also makes other flavors, including guava, passionfruit, espresso, mango, coconut, mojito and pistachio. Abril plans to start selling his seasonal pumpkin Key lime pie soon.
Tallas said that Key lime pie has always been his favorite dessert.
“It truly embodies what a Florida dessert is,” he said. “Winning the Cup in Florida, it just felt like the perfect thing for me to eat.”
Where: 3606 Grand Ave., Coconut Grove
Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
More information:www.fookemsfabulous or 305-699-2122