The Washington Café Behind Twin Peaks' Legendary Cherry Pie

In the pilot episode of the iconic television series "Twin Peaks," FBI agent Dale Cooper (played by the equally iconic actor Kyle MacLachlan, who shared his opinions on coffee and wine with us in 2021) utters the immortal words "they've got a cherry pie there that'll kill ya." Agent Cooper's love for the fictional RR Diner's cherry pie, matched with his appreciation of the diner's "damn fine cup of coffee," turned the real-life diner into a cherry pie Mecca for "Twin Peaks" fans. 

Now known today as Twede's Cafe, the quaint diner that's nestled in the mountain range surrounding North Bend, Washington, has a history worthy of its own episode of "Twin Peaks." Roy Thompson originally built the cafe in 1940, but then moved it across the street a year later to its current location. Dubbed Thompson's Cafe, Roy's son Cecil took over operations when his father left to fight in World War II. Cecil also left for the war, and his wife then ran the café until it was bought in the 1950s by Frank Marcile and Don Tift, who, in a mashup of their names, renamed it the Mar-T Cafe. 

It's unknown whether the two business partners had a tiff, but they both decided to move on, and over a flip of a coin, Marcile became the sole owner of Mar-T Cafe. He eventually sold it to Pat Cokewell, who was the proprietor when "Twin Peaks" director David Lynch stumbled upon it while scouting for locations in 1990. Renamed the Double R Diner for the show, the Mar-T joined the select few restaurants that David Lynch made famous in his films.

Kyle Twede bought the Mar-T in 1997, renaming it Twede's Cafe, but three years later, it was torched by teenagers during a robbery. Twede rebuilt and re-opened the café in 2001, but its newest incarnation paled in comparison to the Mar-T that David Lynch had so hauntingly captured. Despite its new appearance, Twede still needed to feed the public's appetite for cherry pie, and after experimentation, he settled on a recipe that used canned cherry filling, because, as he told The Seattle Weekly, "real cherries have the tendency to look off-color." If you're fond of using canned cherries for pie, then consider avoiding this mistake many make with cherry pie by adding an unexpected ingredient that will elevate the filling, or try your hand at making a perfect flaky pie crust and craft a fresh cherry pie filling instead. 

In 2015, Lynch returned to North Bend to film a reboot of "Twin Peaks," and the Showtime Network footed the substantial remodeling bill to restore the café as it appeared in the original series. Twede apparently tired of running the café, and in 2020, sold it to Twede's server Rachel Bennett and her husband. But on their first day of ownership, the COVID-19 Pandemic forced them to operate only as a take-out facility. The Bennetts managed to get through the lock-down, and because of the renewed interest in "Twin Peaks" from people streaming the show, business skyrocketed. They installed a permanent RR Diner sign and a new "Twin Peaks" memorabilia section modeled after the show's infamous Black Lodge, and, of course, are still serving up the famous cherry pie and coffee.