Pie Spy - Z-Pie in Placerville

Pie Spy would be remiss if Z-Pie had not had a place in its annals. Do you not know? Have you not seen? Z-Pie, at 3182 Center Street in Placerville (www.z-pie.com) is serving up a full menu of savory light meal-size pies, as well as soups, salads, and desserts, in a comfortable and inviting space with white tablecloths, orchids, and cool background jazz. The most abundant choices for pie in Placerville are right there downtown.

Z-Pie emphasizes fresh and seasonal ingredients, and lists them all on the menu. The pie dough is made with butter, and each one is about 4 inches in diameter, golden brown, double-crusted, and fresh-tasting. No artificial ingredients and a commitment to recycling and reducing waste are a hallmark of this eatery. Z-Pie’s menu reflects the fruit and vegetable bounty of the surrounding orchards and farms in Placer County. Although they have a playful attitude toward their flavor combinations, we were pleased to see that they tweak familiar flavors into something distinctive, but don’t venture out on the flaky edge toward weirdness.

There are about a dozen savory fillings to choose from – plus two for breakfast. You can walk in and take the little pies home with you – frozen – for later. The restaurant also has beer and wine if that seems like the thing to have with your pie.

Best of all, you can get out of there with two happy tummies for under 15 bucks.

On scorching Sunday afternoon, Pie Spy and POPS made our first visit to Z-Pie. We walked down Main Street, ducked in at Sierra Rizin’ Bakery to cadge a few pastries to go (no pie!) and asked the attendant there where Center Street is. She explained with a puzzled look that she’d lived in Placerville all her life and didn’t know where it was. So we asked her instead where Z-Pie is. She said, “Oh - that’s my favorite restaurant! I can show you exactly where it is!” She walked us out the door and pointed at the parking garage next to City Hall. “It’s just across the street from the garage,” she said. Yet again, the mental map of memorable meals is often more enduring, reliable, and available for recall than any other kind.

Within a couple of minutes we were seated and ordering. We selected two vegetarian pies – the tomatillo stew and the Very Vege (do we pronounce that veggie or vedge-eh?). We toyed with ordering the fresh gazpacho with our lunch, but opted for caution because we didn’t want to over-fill. The pies were served hot, with flaky but substantial tops and bottoms, and came in cute little pie-sized bowls. This is a place after Pie Spy’s own heart, we thought as we dug in.






The Very Vege had a little bit of everything – zucchini, spinach, bean, potato, onion, pepper, hmm, many things all melded together in a red-brown gravy that provided just enough moisture and lushness. The first bite brought us a little too close to the taste of canned vegetable soup – highly salted, a pinch too much oregano for our taste. But did we eat the whole thing and smile about it? Of course we did.

The tomatillo stew pie was delicious with its black beans, cumin, hominy, poblano, green chilis, and jalapeno peppers. Most of these ingredients melded into the background and were not identifiable. The combination was magical and satisfying, though. And not just because we were very hungry. It was shocking, really, how quickly these charming pies disappeared.

Pie Spy had every intention of sampling the dessert pies (grilled apple or blackberry?) but used up all our capacity on lunch. So we will have to save desserts for our return visit (all desserts can be served with a heap of vanilla bean ice cream if you just can’t stop yourself).

Pie Spy loves Z-Pie and wants everyone to know about it. Satisfying, made with healthful ingredients, a place to enjoy the fare, attentive servers, and plenty of choices makes it a big win. It is worth a visit on your way to or from Apple Hill (where, depending on the day, you can find even more pies of every size and flavor). Or, if you love it even more than we do, ask them about opening a franchise down here in Sacramento so that we can visit you often. And don’t forget to tell them that Pie Spy sent you!

Pie Spy - Mom's Apple Pie, Sebastopol

DROP EVERYTHING AND GO TO MOM'S APPLE PIE, 4550 N. Gravenstein Hwy, Sebastopol

We once heard a comedian say that you should never eat at a place called Mom’s. Advice we had heeded throughout life, until June 5, 2010.

Pie Spy was out and about in the countryside of Sonoma County. Truthfully, we were looking for wine to taste. But we had dallied so long in Petaluma and Sebastopol that, by the time we made it out to Graton, the wineries were closing for the day. Disappointed, we turned back toward town. We knew that the birthday barbecue we were headed for would console us, and soon we would forget all about our disappointment.

And then, suddenly, there was Mom’s Apple Pie – open until 6:00 p.m. (momsapplepieusa.com). We felt better already. The first step through the front door let us know that everything was going to be okay: there were upwards of 20 full-size pies in the case, and a number of 7-inchers as well. There was a list of pie offerings posted overhead – a long list! There were cream pies galore in yet another case to our right. It's a charming place to sit and enjoy your meal.

Blackberry, cherry, apricot, strawberry-rhubarb, wild blueberry, apple, no-sugar fruit pies…by the slice, or by the whole thing. Made with no trans fats! Mom’s also serves sandwiches, soup, and salad in case you need something to eat while you’re making up your mind about the pie. It was an enticing display of Mom’s baking prowess and the orchard abundance of Sonoma County. And Mom, herself, Mrs. Betty Carr, was actually in the house while we were there, although not out front. She’s been selling her pies here since 1983. The web site will tell you more about what Mom's is all about - it's also very charming.

We spied a blackberry turnover in the case, and tested that first. Delightful pastry, poofed up prettily. We wished there had been a little more fruit filling in ours, but what there was of it, we really liked. It disappeared with breathtaking speed.

We couldn’t decide on just one pie, so we opted for two 7-inch pie-ettes. One of these easily would serve three normal people, or two pie freaks. They were beautiful in their simplicity. Here and there, a little bit of fruit filling had oozed out during baking. Of all the pies we’ve tasted on our safaris so far, Mom’s have been the best. The strawberry-rhubarb and the cherry ($6.95) were both, literally, like Mom used to make. Or does make. The crust was just perfect – we don’t know what else to call it. Beautifully flaky but firm, not sweet or salty or crumbly, and not the least bit shiny with butter. The fruits were also done just right, with bright flavors, soft textures, and colors that let you know it's all natural. The homemade quality of these pies made the heart sing. But it was not nostalgia that carried us away at Mom’s. The freshness of the ingredients and the care that goes into making the pies comes through in every bite.

The best part of having your pie here is that you can sit outdoors under an arbor that looks out onto the apple orchard.

If we had found a place like this here in Sacramento, Sac Pie would have had no reason to exist. Mom's Apple Pie has the best pie, at the best value, you are likely to find within 200 miles of this town. Go out and see for yourself!

Pie Spy in LA County

Spoiler alert! Serious foodporn follows.

Although no one responded to my blog request for suggested venues for our May Pie Safari, we were met with a wealth of choices, mystery spots, and Plan B-level selections when we arrived in LA County.

In addition to all the places we visited that did NOT have pie, Pie Spy and POPS managed to hit and sample many fine pie establishments in LA, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, and Altadena. The obvious choices were places that had the word PIE in their names, but we dug a little deeper for some true gems. No, gentle reader, we did not flinch from overeating in the service of research! This area is rich with great cuisine of all sorts, and every dining experience we had there was very, very good. A little bit of sticker shock in Pasadena itself - we agreed that we could have gone to France with just what we spent on food there - but otherwise, it was a delight to wander and find something really wonderful around every corner. The down side of that is, of course, that there are only so many spots you can visit in a short vacation. We will be saving many, many of them on our Next Time List.

That includes Larkin's, in Eagle Rock at 1496 Colorado Boulevard (larkinsjoint.com). Terrific, spiced-up southern cooking and BBQ, with one of the most interesting salad ideas we've seen in quite a long time - mixed greens with okra croquettes! We would have loved some of Larkin's mom's own sweet potato pie after dinner, but we were just too, too full after the salad, some barbecued portobello mushrooms, and two sides. In fact, we didn't even feel hungry the next day.

Next Time List also includes Auntie Em's - 4616 Eagle Rock Blvd., Eagle Rock (auntieemskitchen.com). Somebody beat us to the cherry-berry pie while we were ordering lunch, and they bought the whole thing. Even more of a pie nut than we are, apparently. Chef Teri Wahl does savory pot pies from time to time, as well as desserts.

So let's get rolling on the inventory.

Pie N Burger - 913 E. California, Pasadena (pienburger.com). The place looks like it's been there forever - since 1963, in fact. The menu is on the wall at the front and back of the diner. Lunch was a big salad and a garden burger, but that was only to buy us some time in making our selection for a pie slice. There were a couple of dozen pie choices, and many of them were fresh fruit. We settled on boysenberry. Win! Look how gorgeous this is. The flavor of boysenberry (a fruit that was perfected and made popular down in Orange County, at Knott's Berry Farm, not the amusement park) was clean and unmuddled by excessive refined sugar. Really, really great. Definitely $4.50 worth of fun. And we loved the clock!

Gourmet Cobbler Factory, 33 N Catalina Ave., Pasadena (thegourmetcobblerfactory.com) - While Pie Spy was busy being entertained in a stuffy conference room, POPS was out and about scouting for goodies. POPS has a nose for bakeries, which he follows faithfully, and it never fails. He snagged us a golden baby sweet potato pie from the cobbler joint. Try as we might, we could not damp down the almost radioactive orange color of this tiny pie in the photo. By the way, we appreciate that the POPS has the will power to delay gratification and share these yummies with yours truly, instead of snarfing them up when we are not looking. Creamy, spicy, definitely rich and flavorful, but not overtly sweet - we spooned up the sweet potato pie-ette as breakfast and were very happy. Props to the Cobbler Factory for selling fruit cobblers in foil tins from the personal to vat-sized.

POPS happened across a few Armenian bakeries with very reasonably priced treats, some of which were new discoveries. Why don't we have any talented Armenian bakers here in SacTown? Here are the highlights:

Old Sasoon Bakery - 1132 N. Allen Ave, Pasadena. Our favorite was their swiss chard turnover (panjar) and tiny spinach pie (beorag). Neither of these was anything like a traditional Greek-style spanakopita, or any other spinach pie we've tried. The swiss chard hand pie was made of a sturdy dough and a mysterious combination of seasonings (including tahini and onion) that imparted a reddish color and spicy kick to the filling. This is something we want more of - it makes an excellent lunch. No messy flakes or greasy fingers, either. Old Sasoon has a website, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Two other Armenian bakeries, close by:

Panos - 1649 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena (panosbakery.com). No pie- all cookies, baklava, and other Mediterranean-inflected sweets. Which we sampled; many.

Vrej - 1074 N. Allen, Pasadena (vrejpastry.net) - All cookies, baklava, and gorgeous, lovely cakes. Half a pound of cookies was about three dollars.

(sigh)...Back to pie.

Dutch Oven Bakery - 2281 Lake Ave., Altadena. Sunday we found fresh apple turnovers at this very unassuming little bakery. This is not the kind of bakery that has a web site. No puff pastry and Denny's style filling here - just a simple, easy-to-handle firm dough and fresh apples with cinnamon. This little gem also sold peach cobbler in vats, as at the Cobbler Factory. One of their menu items is an old-school sweet bean pie, but none were available. It was Sunday, after all, on a holiday weekend. Put that on the Next Time List. Prices were very reasonable here, too.

EuroPane - 345 E Colorado, Pasadena. EuroPane has a newer location at 950 E. Colorado, where we had terrific blueberry brioche and apple strudel on our first day. We loved the large, rough-hewn wooden table made out of a single slab. The interior is quite beautiful and a great place to sip your coffee in peace. At the original location, which is smaller and more lively, we sampled the apple pie-ette with lattice crust. For breakfast, oh yeah! And it was completely satisfying in all respects - a very homemade quality, excellent flavors, and extremely fresh. POPS was able to use the Spy Cam to get into the prep area and snap a few shots of the pie master at work. Note that she is multitasking.

If we can digress for just a minute - You must visit Bulgarini Gelato at 749 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena (bulgarinigelato.com). It is in an unassuming strip-mall location that you may have to miss a couple of times before you find it. But it is definitely worth multiple visits. Handmade gelati of various flavors, including unconventional ones like goat's milk straciatella, Florentine salted chocolate, and best of all, plain yogurt gelato with olive oil drizzled on top. This last one was perfectly balanced between sweet and tart, and very rich - almost like eating cream cheese. The half-teaspoon of olive oil was an unexpected complement to the flavor. Our server told us that they serve this gelato often at wine tastings, and we can appreciate how it would be well received as such, but we could eat it every day, whether there is any wine involved or not.

Trails Cafe - 2333 Ferndell Road, Los Feliz (thetrailslosfeliz.com, not much of a website) - Just inside Griffith Park on Ferndell Road in LA is the very popular Trails Cafe. Just a few short years ago, there was nothing here but a Coke machine. We found out about the Trails through LA Weekly, and are glad we did. The cafe serves all kinds of snacks, a few salads, coffee, and more substantial fare in addition to pie. The line was long but the wait was not. We spied the very tall apple pie through the glass (see the photo at the top of today's post) and knew we had to have it. Our server told us there were also some individual cherry crisps on hand. We had to have that too, for back stock. All the baked items are 'from scratch,' a friendly sign informed us.


Our pie was served warm, a slice large enough for a village. It looks wonderful in the photo - that brown, flaky crust, chunky fruit, et cetera, right? The pie had skins-on chunks of Golden Delicious that were just firm enough, with delicate flavor. Leaving the skins on was not a good choice. The pie had a weird, stringy brown goo inside, which tasted cinnamony-sweet but was visually unappealing - it would stretch almost like warm mozzarella. We found the crust hard to pierce with a recyclable plastic fork. Make no mistake, though - we ate the whole thing! At $4.50 a slice, we felt we could not let any go to waste.

The cherry crisp was in the mini-pie shell on the upper left of the photo below. We saved it until we came home to Sac, and it traveled very well. The cherries were perfectly sweet/tart and chewy, with no goo. The pie shell was made of the same very firm dough formulation as the apple pie, but it seemed to work a lot better as a bowl for the cherries and oatmeal crisp topping. Worth the five bucks! Good job, Trails. Keep this one on the menu!

House of Pies, 1869 N. Vermont, Los Angeles (houseofpiesrestaurant.com) - No pie safari can be undertaken without at least a look in at the House of Pies, the last holdout of what was once a large chain throughout the LA region. The sign alone lets the imagination run wild. We stopped in about 30 minutes after we ate the apple pie at the Trails. In retrospect, this was probably too soon. At this point, all Pie Spy's pie receptors were redlined, and nothing in the case looked good. On view in the cases were multiple pies of the custard, meringue, and cheesecake varieties. We did not spy any fruit pies, and in truth, didn't want any! But we had to know. And now we do.

While we recognize that we were merely scratching the surface of potential pie opportunities, we think our trip was a total success. Pie Spy was inspired to find some new fillings to experiment with, to get brave with soft berries that are now in season, and to check in again with our local Sacramento scene and see what's on the menu. What have you had your eye on while we were away?

Pie Spy - On the Road to SoCal

Hey, pie lovers! Pie Spy is hitting the road again at the end of May, bound for the sunny south. POPS (Partner of Pie Spy - thank you for the acronym, Kim!) is also going on the adventure and is compiling a list of eateries to check out. We have some pie destinations in mind, and our voyage may splash over into Orange County. So we wanted to give all of you who enjoy SacPie a chance to contribute your suggestions for new or favorite places we should spy on.

Please post in your comments any pie stops that come to mind. Check out our posting of 19 March, Pie in Los Angeles, to see the hallowed ground we have already trod (trod?). We will not be revisiting those, but we will do our best to visit as many of the new ones as we can. Anything especially offbeat or just plain odd would place high on our growing list.

We will also be spending quality time on the beach in Orange County, so pie stops in Newport Beach, San Clemente, Seal Beach, or other coastal spots will give you double credits! So please help us plan our road trip and get in on the pie safari. Post your suggestions in comments by 21 May 2010. Thanks!

Pie Spy - Sugar Plum Vegan

We had cruised Sugar Plum Vegan's web site (http://www.sugarplumvegan.com/) a few weeks ago to see what was up with their new shop opening at 2315 K Street. The web site told us that they were open, but a drive-by shortly thereafter gave us contradictory data. So on a recent sunny Friday, we decided to check in again.

The shop occupies the space that had been True Love Coffee House, Sanaa, and Jasmine in recent years - it's a white Victorian next door to Hina's in Midtown. The interior has been modified slightly to brighten it up and make the small rooms seem less busy. Baked goods are prominently displayed at the counter, where you can order breakfasts, salads, soups, sandwiches, and other eats. Every item on the menu is vegan. Sugar Plum also offers some gluten-free items.

I looked into the display case for the pie, but saw only cookies, muffins, and scones. The pies and cakes are in a cylindrical display case all their own, up near the front window. This is the kind of pie cabinet that diners and old-time bakeries have, with shelves that rotate. However, all the pies and cakes were stationary on our visit. The case held a tantalizing array of stuff on that day: apple pie, with either crumb or pastry topping; apple-granola crisp with raspberry; peanut butter mousse pie, and beautifully decorated deep chocolate cake. I have to say, the cakes were very pretty compared to the pies. What, exactly, is in a vegan frosting that makes it look and behave like butter cream frosting?

I am beginning to think of apple pie as the litmus-test pie for Pie Spy's eating-out adventures. It was certainly the most attractive pie in the case -- so I ordered a slice. There was only one of each variety of pie and cake in the case, which made me wonder whether you could purchase a whole pie there without ordering ahead.

While vegan frosting and cupcakes may be a bit of a challenge, vegan fruit pie is not much of a stretch. Still, I wanted to see for myself what Sugar Plum's vegan version was like.

Sugar Plum's apple pie slice was generously sized (at $3.95 a slice). Full of thinly sliced, almost crisp pieces of apple, and very gently seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg. The filling was exactly moist enough. The pastry of this slice was very white, although not underbaked. It felt a little bit granular rather than flaky, and a little bit sticky. I think both of these attributes have to do with the type of shortening (fat, for lack of a better word) used. I find that certain shortenings do take quite awhile to brown. A cup of coffee would be the perfect accompaniment to this rendition of apple pie to help with that feel of stickiness.

While this slice held no surprises or revelations, it had a welcome home-made quality and it celebrated the apples, rather than drowning out their freshness by overloading the spice.

We sat in sunshine on the patio and enjoyed our dessert, one big fat delicious forkful at a time. Next time, we will have the Pie Spy Camera handy, we promise. By all means make a visit to Sugar Plum if you are in the mood for dessert but want to feel virtuous about it afterwards. [And if you don't want to virtuous about it, go across the street to Rick's Dessert Diner.]

And - of course! - tell them Pie Spy sent you. We will be waiting for your report.

P.S. On our last trip to the Davis Food Co-Op, we spied a placard that read "DFC is pleased to supply pies to Sugar Plum Vegan, Sacramento's new vegan restaurant." This calls for further investigation!

Pie Spy In Los Angeles

When you’re in LA, treading those boulevards of dreams, and you want to sit down and have something sweet, where ya gonna go?

Your Pie Spy visited several iconic establishments throughout the city, some of them better known for other selections than for pie. This turned into a mini urban pie safari. The featured stops along the way included these:

Musso and Frank (www.mussoandfrankgrill.com)

The Original Pantry (www.pantrycafe.com)

Clifton’s Brookdale (www.cliftoncafeteria.com)

And Pea Soup Andersen’s, on the way home, in Buellton (www.peasoupandersens.net).

There was no pie at the Pacific Dining Car, none at the Nickel Diner, or Rincon Criollo, or Tender Greens, or – understandably – at the Formosa Café.

Obviously there are many, many more pie venues in the big city than these, but there were other missions on the urban safari besides eating all the pie we could. It can get overwhelming if you don’t bite off small pieces.

Among these pies, Musso and Frank's apple pie (pictured above) was notable for being the thickest and being served on the prettiest china. Not a fancy restaurant, but it was a standout for the ambience. The fare at M &F is traditional, and maybe even plain. But eating pie where stars have dined – maybe even at our table! - has its own sparkly charm.

The Original Pantry’s apple pie (shown above) came warm and dressed with cinnamon sauce, which wasn’t mentioned on the menu, but turned out to be an interesting embellishment. It was $3.95 a slice, or $1.25 extra if you wanted ice cream with it. (But pretty good without!) That place is always hopping, and you might decide well before you’re hungry to go there – there is often a line out the door.

Clifton’s Brookdale had cherry pie as well as apple, but Pie Spy was tired of apple pie by the time we got there. The cherry (below) was the winner in the price category, at a bargain-licious $2.39 per slice. Tart fruit and buttery pastry. Home/cafeteria cooking that is hard to find in our own part of California. You gotta go to Clifton’s to experience the crazy décor as well as the pie. Notice the moose head and the fancy forest wall decoration, with tree trunk in the right foreground.

And let us not forget Pea Soup Andersen’s. It has been there by the highway so long that maybe you don’t even notice it anymore. Choices of food stops along the road are generally not very good for you. Pea Soup Andersen’s, however, is a welcome alternative to the burgers, pizzas, and chicken buckets. The eponymous soup is vegetarian and very, very delicious, full of protein, and just eating it makes us feel calmer. The copper-topped tables and the non-truck-stop lighting also make you feel more civilized. If you’re not into green soup, try the salad, and if you’ve had enough pie for one week, order a chocolate milk shake. Then you will have the courage to keep on driving. The pie was warm, but as you can see from the picture below, it was a little bit oozy. We neglected to inquire about the makeup of the pastry, but I believe it is vegetable shortening–based. In my opinion it is not quite as good as homemade pie, but even so one should be grateful that pie is anywhere to be had out there on the freeway. And we were very grateful!

The inaugural SoCal Pie Spy mission was a big success. When I can get back into the skinny jeans, I'll be ready for the second phase.

Pie Spy - Freeport Bakery and the Knish Delish

One of Pie Spy’s favorite places in the whole Sacramento Valley is Freeport Bakery at 2966 Freeport Boulevard (www.freeportbakery.com). We here at SacPie are not so into “cute” as a lifestyle choice, so that’s not why we love Freeport Bakery (although you could not ask for a more charming bakery storefront). We love it because their commitment to excellence is evident everywhere you look, and in every bite. We love it because it is a place where you can not only buy delicious things to eat but you can sit down and eat them, with real plates, knives, and forks, and enjoy a good cup of coffee too. We love it because it has clearly and deservedly become a mainstay of its neighborhood. We love it because it is a short walk from our house. Of course, we love it for the beautifully made, proudly displayed, and extravagant pies on offer. We will get to the pies soon.

But they really hooked us with the knishes.

Freeport Bakery’s take on vegetable knishes is a total departure from anything you may have previously consumed that called itself knish. The conventional deli knish we have experienced only comes in one variety – potato. PieSpy has scoped them in local deli cases - brownish bricks that look like square corn dogs – the kind you’re supposed to dip in mustard. They've been frozen too long, and maybe thawed out too soon. They aren’t appetizing to look at, and feel pretty much like bricks once they are ingested.

Scan the web for knish data and you will find recipes for fish, pastrami, cheese, chicken, and other hearty fillings, surrounded by dough made with chicken fat, or with puff pastry, Kosher, not Kosher, and on and on. Many of these seem beyond substantial and into ‘dense.’ Never having had the experience of knishes in a genuine New York Jewish deli, I cannot say what makes a store-bought knish authentic (although a tiny voice inside tells me the brown bricks are NOT). And never having had a Jewish grandmother, I have no experience of home-made knishes either.

Anyone out there making their own knishes at home?

At Freeport Bakery, if you ask for the knish, what you will receive is a glorious, ethereal, miniature self-contained vegetable pie on a small china plate. You will not see them in the bakery cases, but usually one is displayed on the counter to the left of the entry door. They cost about $3.95 each. Just ask. Your odds of success will be higher if you get there earlier in the day.

I have not inquired as to whether these knishes are kosher, but I'm sure someone at the counter can let you know, if you are interested.

You can re-heat them for a minute or so in the Bakery’s microwave, and then enjoy them hot right there. I have tried many times to get the temperature just right with their 1980's-era nuker, but the filling becomes either scalding hot or remains too cold, and you don't want to ruin that beautiful pastry crust. Maybe you will have better luck if you can take a few home with you cold, and heat them up later in a 300-degree oven. Be advised, though, even your best mustard would be an insult on this gorgeous little pie. It needs no extras.

The crust is both decorative and appetizing; firm enough to hold the insides in, but light and buttery. A little cutout leaf or nut made of dough adorns the egg-glazed top. The knish has the look and aroma of a fancy French savory pie. About 3 inches in diameter, it is best enjoyed, and deserves to be enjoyed, on a plate and eaten with a fork. This knish is flaky and too civilized to be eaten while you are driving or – you know who you are – standing over the kitchen sink.

Inside, the knish is filled with an aromatic combination of mashed and finely minced vegetables – potatoes as well as carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, onion (or perhaps leek), and a delicate array of herbs. The filling is velvety yet all the ingredients are identifiable. On the plate, the knish may look small, but it eats big. One knish can be a satisfying breakfast or lunch for one person – decadent, but with vegetables.

Freeport Bakery’s knish will make you want to throw rocks at other knishes commonly on offer in stores. They are so satisfying that you may say, “to hell with baking knishes myself!” If so, make sure you get to Freeport Bakery before I do. Or call ahead and request a special order.

Pie Spy - Fat Apple's Restaurant & Bakery

A road trip to Berkelely on the last Friday of January necessitated some Pie Spying.

In San Francisco Magazine's January issue, we had read a short blurb about Fat Apple's. Fat Apple's is a breakfast-lunch spot - actually two spots: the home location at 7525 Fairmount Avenue in El Cerrito, and 1346 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Berkeley. They have a range of salad, soup, sandwiches, and hot entrees, but what really hooks us is the full bakery case. Fat Apple's makes scones, cookies, pastries, cakes, and you-know-what, under the masterful watch of Hildegard Marshall, the founder and owner.

At the Fairmount Avenue location, the skylit, barrel-vaulted interior (a former grocery store, our hostess told us) is dominated by a very large, square oven situated in the very middle of the building. The oven is probably close to 15 feet on each side. Our hostess explained that this oven runs 24-7 during the holidays, when the place pumps out pies non-stop (especially pumpkin). Although it was well past the peak of lunch hour (and traditional bakers' hours) when we visited, there were still at least a dozen workers visibly hustling around the place. By the way, pie crusts are made with butter, and also with love and skill.

There is a diner counter and tables for 80 or so people. Reproductions of Wayne Thiebaud pictures, as well as other, temporary exhibits by artists, adorn the walls.

Fat Apple's most widely acclaimed favorite pie is the ollalieberry, shown below:

You can choose from several flavors of pie, if ollalieberry is not what you came for. There was a slice of lofty lemon meringue going by as we ordered lunch. The chocolate creme pie looked as dense and dark as chocolate mousse. The apple pie was puffed up, and my imagination ran wild. Just for the sake of research, we ordered a slice of the cherry pie after a filling lunch of spinach salad and a portobello mushroom sandwich (both pretty good).

Pie by the slice is $4.25. You could purchase a whole fruit pie there for $17.00 (and be very happy).

The pie slice comes unadorned with whip or ice cream. Which is good, because usually I forget to request that these be deleted. Despite the neon-red color of the filling, I could tell this was no institutional pie. The cherries were tart, firm, and still individually imbued with flavor. The red matrix in which they floated was pleasantly sweet and a little bit thick, but never gooey, chemical, or dominating. It was definitely more cherries than red gel. I could tell that the crust had been made with butter because of the distinct flavor note as well as the flaky, light texture as I broke it - in my delicate way - with the fork. I had to increase the shutter speed on my camera, because this piece was of the stealthy, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't variety. It disappeared in what seems like a flash!

The finishing touch to our Fat Apple's experience was the receipt. Pie Spy finds wisdom in unexpected places. Be sure to read below the bottom line. That's what I'm talking about.

Pie Spy - Dad's Kitchen

I have two stories to relate about Dad's Kitchen and its pie offerings. Check out http://www.ediblesacramento.com/content/index.php/winter-2009/comfort-food.htm for a capsule review of what Dad's is all about.

Dad's Kitchen, at 2968 Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento, was written up in a local publication last summer for its excellent pies. I was not a Pie Spy then, but already a pie snob, so I had to check this out. It was the peak of fresh summer fruit season. Pies at Dad's were reportedly made in-house by a lady named Anne, and the word was that you had to get there early in the day if you wanted to sample her wares. How could this not be good?

Here's how: In July, I ordered a slice of Anne's pie to go, while I was still having lunch, from my very charmingly inked server. Lunch was very filling, mainly because we inhaled the Spuds of Joy, so I decided to save the pie (SOUR CHERRY!) for later. Apparently it took a few attempts to convey the pie order to the kitchen, during which several minutes went by. First, a generously sized slice of pie a la mode was delivered on a plate to the table. We hailed our charming server and reminded her that we had asked for the pie to go. The plate disappeared immediately into the kitchen, and we waited several more minutes. When the box finally arrived , we decided to check and take a look at it. Recall July? Hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk? The kitchen staff decided had scraped the original slice from the plate to a cardboard go-box ice cream and all, on one of the hottest days of the year. Upon discovering this lapse in culinary judgment, we returned the box to a server and explained, no ice cream. Whereupon several more interminable minutes went by, until at last, a dry slice of pie materialized. This slice was about half the size of the original piece, and in addition, it had sort of been mashed into the box. By then, a half-hour had elapsed since we ordered the pie, and I was questioning whether I really wanted it at all.

And to top that all off, it was a $7.00 piece of pie.

I will say that the sour cherry pie was very fresh, not overly sweet, and not gelatinous with thickener. And sour cherry pie is not all that common in restaurants, so just having it as a choice really scored some points with me. The crust was buttery, brown, and - where intact - very flaky and sturdy enough to stand up to the cooked fruit. But worth all the trouble?

Sheesh! This experience is one reason that SacPie was born. We can all improve upon pie experiences like that one, and you can have an entire, fresh pie, all to YOURSELF, for $7.00!

Pie Spy's more recent experience at Dad's Kitchen was an improvement. [Note: In addition to the fruit pie on offer, there are also two varieties of pot pie on the lunch menu. You could conceivably eat pie for your entree and pie for dessert. Not many places can offer you that!]

This past week, the fruit pie was apple. We ordered a piece as we were finishing lunch but decided to dine in with it. We experienced the same difficulty with getting the order placed. When you are waiting for a slice of pie, minutes seem much longer than, say, when you are waiting for a bus in the rain. One reason the order was taking so long, we later learned, is that they warm it up in a standard oven before serving it - nice on a cold Saturday.

The pie arrived with the very smooth and lovely vanilla bean ice cream in a separate bowl. I had forgotten to ask them to hold the ice cream, but now I'm glad I got it. Three compact little scoops of the stuff - a dessert serving all by itself. Apple pie is one of my favorites. This one had very thinly sliced apples, a full double crust, no other embellishments. As you can see, it was good looking as well - straightforward, like-home pie. There was some sugary, spicy brown stuff mixed into the apple filling, and the texture and flavor were pleasant. Just enough cinnamon to enhance the apple without overpowering it. I don't usually eat ice cream with my pie, and least of all vanilla, but the freshness of both made for a wonderful combination. It was still $7, but it seemed like money well spent this time.

The pies are now made in-house by one of Dad's servers, Maria. Anne has apparently moved on. Maria uses all butter for her crust. Be advised that there is only one flavor of fruit pie available each day, and if you want it, I would advise that you get there before 2 or 3 in the afternoon (Maria has other things to do besides bake pies all day) and order it before you start the second half of your sandwich (or pot pie), unless you don't mind lingering. Fruit pies are not offered on the printed menu; you'll need to ask your server, and be sure to tell them that the Pie Spy sent you.

Pie Spy

Pie Spy will help you find delicious pie in places outside your own home. How far from home? Hard to tell - wherever there is, as they say in the military, a target-rich environment.

This week, it's San Francisco. It was not my aim to search out all pie venues in the city on this trip. But I did want to explore Noe Valley - and a treasure trove it was.

Noe Valley Bakery (www.noevalleybakery.com) made the beautiful pies you see here. They sell them at the Saturday farmer's market behind the Ferry Building, but the bakery is located at 4073 24th Street, and is open Saturdays. With concoctions like pear-cranberry, and bona-fide double crusts (none of that crumble-topping jazz), they know their pies! You can get a good cup of coffee there; someone needs to convince them to sell their pie by the slice.

Across the street from Noe Valley Bakery is Peasant Pies (www.peasantpies.com), which offers all hand pies and a comfortable sit-down area in which to enjoy them. A small menu, but it offers something for breakfast, lunch, or snack, including for vegans and vegetarians. Is Noe Valley San Francisco's center of critical mass for pie?

Check in with Pie Spy for more sightings!