How far are you willing to travel for a
great pie?
Some people love cake, others gobble up cookies; pie is my vice.
And I’ll go the distance for a fabulous slice.
It’s nostalgic. It’s delicious. It reminds me of special occasions and holidays.
And it’s a pain to make at home, so I prefer to eat it elsewhere.
I even enjoy the process of carving up a piece, taking my fork, tilting it to the side and
cutting through soft filling and then hitting the flaky, buttery crust and nudging the fork
through that layer.
Yep, there’s nothing like it.
My favorite varieties are definitely cream filled and meringue pies. Coconut cream. Lemon
meringue. Chocolate meringue. Some sort of peanut butter and chocolate concoction can
bring me to my knees.
I am always on the hunt for a fabulous slice. For several years now, I have been popping
into pie places all over the state to sample their fare. Here are five of my favorites.
Now, there’s no way I’ve eaten at all the great pie shops or diners in the Show-Me State,
so if you have another place you’d recommend, let me know. My quest for perfect pie
continues and I am always eager to stick my fork into something new.
So if you’re on the road this summer or just want to take a pie road trip, here are some
places I recommend:
The Red Barn Café and Hen House Bakery, 107 W. Mt Vernon Blvd., in Mount Vernon,
serves up a whole lot of pie. It’s owned by Shari Copenhaver, who has more than 40 years
of restaurant experience. The best-selling pies include chocolate peanut butter cream,
fresh strawberry, which is seasonal, and strawberry rhubarb.
My two favorites (although I’ve never tried the aforementioned) are the coconut cream and
lemon meringue. The coconut cream is one of the best coconut cream pies I’ve ever had
because the coconut flavor was pronounced and it was over-the-top creamy (if there is
such a thing). The meringue on the lemon pie was the tallest cloud of meringue I’ve ever
had the pleasure of biting into. It’s disproportionately large compared to the tart lemon
filling, but I was OK with it. This country-style restaurant with red and white checkered
tablecloths and antique accents serves up three meals a day, and the food is made from
scratch.
If you plan to eat more than pie, the hamburger is excellent. It’s a hand-formed patty made
with fresh beef. Find the restaurant on Facebook. Call 417-466-4650.
Cooky’s Café, 529 Main St. in Golden City, is my latest discovery and it’s worth the hour
drive from Springfield (plus, it’s a pretty drive).
The restaurant has been around since 1942 and was started by Ellen and Cecil Ambler.
“My grandmother worked for the original owners and she bought it in 1975,” said Greg
Eldred, who is one of four owners now. The restaurant has been in the Eldred family ever
since.
They bake 35 to 50 pies a day, and varieties range from chocolate pecan to banana cream
to blackberry.
“We have fruit pies, pecan every day, cream pies, all made from scratch. Coconut cream is
definitely the number one seller. Dutch apple is another, then cherry pie,” he said.
My parents and I stopped in recently and ordered quite a sampling: A slice of chocolate
meringue, coconut cream, lemon meringue and butterscotch. Every slice was delicious.
To my surprise, the butterscotch was my favorite. I’ve never had a butterscotch pie, but my
paternal grandmother, who passed away before I was born, used to bake them, so my
father ordered one. The butterscotch pie had a creamy, caramel-tasting center with a light
butterscotch finish topped with an incredibly light meringue. It was marvelous.
The chocolate meringue was excellent and tasted like a milk chocolate pie. The coconut
cream was very impressive, and I enjoyed the lemon. I didn’t get a chance to try it —
because I have only one stomach —but the chocolate pecan made my mouth water.
Pies are available whole or by the slice. This place felt like a small-town diner from 1950
and I loved it. The waitresses knew most of the customers, and the main courses were
simple and reasonable. We enjoyed a small pork tenderloin sandwich and a great burger.
The restaurant is known for its brisket, which is what I’ll order next time. Find the restaurant
on Facebook. Cash or checks only. Call 417-537-4741.
In Rolla, about one mile off I-44 is A Slice of Pie, 601 Kingshighway St., which has been
featured in national magazines and has won an array of awards. The crust is always flaky,
the variety is impressive and the portions are huge.
The small restaurant was started in 1986 by Ron and Mickey Hopson, two teachers who
have since retired from the school district but kept up their sweet business. There’s an
array of fruit pies, some sugar free, a fantastic coconut meringue and my personal favorite:
peanut butter lust, which is peanut butter and chocolate and painfully rich. In the display
case, there are a variety of fruit pies. The strawberry rhubarb is very good. There’s always
a pie of the month, and one day I will get a chance to try the Tahitian vanilla that sounds so
good.
Order a half slice because even a half slice can feed two people; a whole is borderline
obscene. While sweet pie is the name of the game, you can also score a nice slice of
quiche or pot pie. This is a cash-only business. http://asliceofpie.info/. Call 573-364-6203.
The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery, 6116 2nd St., Kimmswick, about 1 mile off 1-55
(about 25 miles south of St. Louis), is home to “The Levee High Apple Pie,” and the
Caramel Pecan Levee is the one to try.
This pie weighs 10 pounds and contains 18 apples, all hand sliced so they can be perfectly
stacked. It’s quite a sight. Of course, I had to order it, and it looks exactly like it appears in
photos and on TV. I’d seen photos of this pie as the restaurant has been featured on the
Food Network, Travel Channel, and Oprah named that pie one of her “favorite things.”
It’s an enormous slice of pie, big enough for 2-3 people to share. The top crust is covered
in a rich caramel pecan sauce that was scrumptious. The thinly sliced, slightly crunchy
cinnamon apples inside were fantastic. My only complaint was the bottom crust was
slightly soggy, but with that many apples, I am not surprised. They ship that pie nationwide.
I was told the peach pie was popular, but I am not a peach pie fan so I opted for the
strawberry rhubarb and that was lovely. I kick myself for not ordering the Hawaiian coconut
cream pie, which has pineapple and coconut. It sounded like heaven.
In terms of ambience, this restaurant is the winner. The quaint building feels like a home
with hardwood floors and a gorgeous outdoor patio. But more than that, the town of
Kimmswick is precious.
If you go to the restaurant, which has a large food menu and Sunday brunch, plan to spend
a couple of hours in Kimmswick, which was founded in 1859. The walkable, historic
downtown has a cluster of little shops selling candles, homemade soap and such gifts in
buildings that are more than 100 years old. It feels like a miniature Eureka Springs (very
miniature). Come for the pie and stay for the town.http://www.theblueowl.com/. Call 636464-3128.
And finally, up near Kansas City is The Upper Crust Pie Bakery. It’s owned by sisters
Elaine Van Buskirk and Jan Knobel, who have a long history of baking. Their grandmother
and mother were both excellent bakers.
On any given day, they offer 12-25 varieties of pie, including mini pies, said Knobel.
Ten years ago, they opened a bakery in the basement of Pryde’s Kitchen and Home
(Pryde’s, lower level), 115 Westport Road, Kansas City, but four years ago, they added a
second, larger location in Overland Park, Kansas.
The Westport location is open on Friday and Saturday only; the Overland Park location is
where they do the bulk of their business these days.
“Neither one of us started out with this as our primary career. My sister was in marketing; I
was in the corporate world. We realized pie was a lost art the way our mother and
grandmother did it. We thought there was a real void in Kansas City for good pie, so that’s
where it started,” Knobel said.
They bake hundreds of pies a week, and best sellers range by season. But one popular pie
is the bumbleberry pie, which is a mixed berry pie (and it’s delicious); apple and cherry are
also popular.
“This time of year we’re doing a tremendous amount of peach pie, blackberry,” she said.
At the Overland Park location only, on the third Friday of every month from 5-8 p.m., the
Upper Crust offers a pie flight featuring three varieties for $7, so it’s a chance to sample
different flavors (six varieties are on the flight menu and you pick three).
Online: http://www.uppercrustpiebakery.com. The Westport location: 816-561-4990.
Overland Park: 913-642-2999.
So there you have it, five fantastic pie joints. If you’re a pie lover, I hope you find one you
enjoy. The question is, how far are you willing to drive?
This article was written by Juliana Goodwin and originally appeared at news-leader.com
on July 30, 2015.
http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2015/07/30/far-willing-travel-greatpie/30892523/