It is an instantly inviting restaurant because of the cute outdoor seating as well as the adorable "Pie Bird" sign and flower decorations on the glass.
If the outside wasn't enough to draw you in, a quick peak inside would do the trick with its clean but cozy feel, casually dressed and friendly waitstaff, as well as an eclectic crowd ranging from college buddies, to couples on first dates, to happy families. The night we were there happened to have great live music, a solo guitar player- Carl Vick, which even further developed the local, community vibe that made the restaurant an enjoyable experience.
But now on to the really important stuff.... the food! I have to admit I have not been this excited about a place since I discovered Market Restaurant this past winter. Plus they also use local ingredients that are in-season from the Farmers' Market!
We started with two appetizers, the first being Pie Cracklins' which are leftover pie dough scraps that they fry and serve with a white bean hummus that tastes of garlic and smooth white beans, a great combination. The other option for the Pie Cracklins' is a caramelized onion dip that sounded delicious and probably what I will try when I go back again.
The other was a special that was Camembert cheese (similar to Brie) with figs, baked in a light puff pastry, served with creme fraiche and fresh berries. It was slightly sweet because of the figs and it balanced perfectly with the creamy, rich flavors of the melted Camembert.
Then we ordered two Tomato and Goat Cheese Pies (a daily special) and a Mushroom tart. Each of the pies comes with a side salad and you can either get a house salad with one of their homemade dressings or they usually have 2-3 special salads of the day. I ordered one of the specials and it was a summer berry salad that had mixed greens, pickled shallots, goat cheese, summer berries, and then a house-made berry vinaigrette. It sounds simple and similar to many other restaurants around here that do the same kind of salad, but this one was especially good. I think it was because the dressing is homemade and you can really tell a difference between this and one just out of a bottle. It was light and refreshing, everything a summer salad should be.
Next we had the pies, and Catie and I both ordered the Tomato and Goat Cheese pie:
This was a little slice of heaven. You could taste the freshness of the tomatoes, the goat cheese was a deliciously creamy consistency, the crust was ideally thick and cooked, and the balsamic syrup on top was the perfect way to accent the other flavors and also gave the dish an extra pop with every bite. I ate it very slowly because I did not want it to end.
Katie had the Mushroom tart and while the description on the menu was the most appealing, and while it was still tasty, it was a bit of a let down. It was a little too thin and didn't have as many mushrooms as one would expect since it is the focal point of the dish. However, the earthy flavors of the mushrooms did pair well with the caramelized onions, Fontina cheese, and thyme, but you were left wanting more of the filling within the tart.
By this point we were all pretty full, but the list of sweet pies was just too tempting so Brittany ordered us a S'mores pie with vanilla ice cream to share.
This was an excellent decision because this was incredible! It had a thick graham cracker crust with a dense layer of rich chocolate and then homemade marshmallow that was topped with even more mini-marshmallows that were lightly broiled to give them that campfire taste. A bite of the pie with a bite of the vanilla ice cream (topped with a magic shell-type chocolate sauce) was perfection and we ate every bite of it.
It was a wonderful meal in a great environment and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new place to try! You won't be disappointed!
Here is the website so you can go ahead and start drooling over the menu, but just keep in mind that they have anywhere from 5-10 daily specials that all sounded fabulous, so there are always more options.
Enjoy!
