At the Pie Factory, they produce the genuine article. There's nothing prefabricated about the taste.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published October 14, 2004
[Times photos: Patty Yablonski]
Fudge and peanut butter swirl like fine marble through a slice of icebox pie. In the background: classic coconut cream pie, a strawberry cream cheese muffin and a brownie.
Thick chocolate shavings and ribbons of cream dress up a pie that’s ready to go from the cooler at the Pie Factory.
The glass case is filled with Halloween cookies iced in Smurf blue and ghoul green, oooey-gooey cakes, muffins and cheesecakes, red velvet to white chocolate-raspberry brulee. Even soup, salad and sandwiches.
They're not for me. Not close.
I'm here for the pie. Pie, glorious pie, two-crusted pie, nothing but fruit and dimpled, crumpled crust, with the flakiness only lard can provide; it's all too rare. The iconic pie of farmhouse window sills and state fair blue ribbons disappeared years ago with the rolling pin, lard and cooking literacy. Pillsbury should have gotten a Nobel Prize for inventing refrigerated pie crust.
But it's the real deal at the Pie Factory, which has a repertoire of 30 pies and more during pie season (that's starting this week). Usually a dozen or so are on hand at its two locations, and others are in smart restaurant dessert cases around the Tampa Bay area.
I found mine after lunch at the Central Avenue Oyster Bar in St. Petersburg. I was disappointed that the pies weren't made in house, but the waiter won me over with two words: strawberry rhubarb.
Oh my. The Pie Factory mixes peaches with berries, apples with berries and berries with berries, with or without sugar.
My loyalty is to fruits and vegetable pies. Anatomically, pumpkin is a fruit, and so is mince meat (but rhubarb's a veggie), but there are peanuttier, too-chocolatey meringues and icebox pies here, too. The Pie Factory brags on its key lime, which started the operation in 1991, but skip the key lime supreme. It's an unnatural chiffon with too much cream on top. Coconut cream meringue has the heft to give wicked pleasure.
I prefer my pies fairly simple. You can have apple with a crunchy caramel topping, but the Awesome Apple with two bites of crust still wins for me. Pecan strikes the perfect balance among shelled pecans (not too many), jelled custard (not too heavy, sweet or bland) and crisp crust (not too thick). But I won't claim too much purity; if the Pie Factory had Mom's butterscotch meringue, I wouldn't hesitate.
Pies are special. We look around the world for great breads, fine pastries and lovely cookies, and are delighted that we now have homegrown artisans duplicating their work, but pies are a traditional home-kitchen masterpiece.
We must be mighty thankful that the Pie Factory and others, such as Mike's Pies in Tampa and J.J. Gandy in Palm Harbor, keep pie on our menu (just call ahead to check on your favorite flavor).
Clearly it's working. Factory founder Bobbie Barmore expanded to a retail bakery and Toucan's Coffeehouse in 1997 and a second time this year in Pinellas Park, as well as to plenty of restaurant deliveries.
Both locations have a short menu of coffees, tea, salads and such, even a no-crust quiche. But why?
Make mine pie.
Chris Sherman dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays for all expenses. A restaurant's advertising has nothing to do with selection for a review or the assessment of its quality. He can be reached at 727 893-8585 or sherman@sptimes.com
The Pie Factory and Toucan's Coffee House & Dessert Cafe
12777 Walsingham Road
Largo
Phone: (727) 593-1884
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
11182 66th St. N
Pinellas Park
Phone: (727) 546-2867
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
