Ticket to Paradise

Entrees are a hit for sure, but where Kathleen's exceeds any global standards and flies straight to heavenly strata is in desserts.

The peppermint cream cake is a best seller, and it's easy to understand why. A pink peppermint buttercream icing surrounded layer upon layer of devil's food cake, and peppermint ooze seeped into the spongy cake cells just under the smooth icing. (Robert Ellington, right-hand man to Kathleen, claims that ground peppermints added into the buttercream somehow chemically react with the icing causing the delectable ooze and that the cake gets even better after a night or two in its own peppermint marinade.) The experience of my first bite was so insanely good I honestly wish I hadn't tried it yet so I could do it all over again. Full-on chocolate cake would've proven too much—the more modest devil's food was an expert's choice. One slice is enough for four people or for one person to have leftovers for several other minty trips.

The Oreo cookie cake tasted exactly like a giant, soft Oreo cookie. The similarity was unnerving but victorious. It's too rich for a second round of leftovers but ultimately successful.

With all the cakes and pies to choose from at the Sky Diner, it seems silly to opt for the hot chocolate chip cookie, but do it. The gem came freshly baked in a ceramic dish, a la mode. Melting ice cream trickled into the dough with bits of oatmeal, pecans and chips, and the dessert ended up more like a hearty cookie crumble, or cobbler, than a traditional cookie. It was steaming hot, and spoon battles were waged—on two separate occasions—for the last bite. I dare say, this cookie rivals the best of white-haired grannies the world over.

It's been a while since I've had a vacation, but at Kathleen's Sky Diner I could just relax and take an edible trip around the world for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Plus, the dishes were already upgraded to first-class, and I didn't have to pack one caftan or expedite my passport processing.

4424 Lovers Lane, 214-691-2355. Open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.