Pie Face Chases Frowns Away

Hugh Jackman may have departed the Great White Way, but the Aussies are still serving up plenty of beefcake on 53^rd and Broadway. Well, Chunky Steak Savory Pie to be more precise.

It is the start of another work week and my colleague Tully and I are cued up outside Pie Face – the lastest restaurant concept to take Manhattan.

No, not this kind of Pie Face…

This kind!

It’s quiet exciting. We’ve never been to a restaurant opening. Pie Face Bakery Café started in Sydney, Australia and has invaded New York offering a whopping selection of gourmet savory pies, sausage rolls, mini savory pies, pastries, cakes and mini sweet pies. In a clever touch of cinéma vérité, the web site features the raucous sound of happy pie munching followed by a satisfied belch. Yum!

As we stand on line working up an appetite in the brisk midday air, we are wrangled by the “Pie Patrol,” a charming group of staff members with musical Australian accents. Pie and an Aussie accent at lunch? Talk about a cheap thrill!

As we enter the café, a wide selection of cheerful Pie Faces are beaming up at us from within the glass counter.

There’s even a little game involved. Each Happy Pie Face has a slightly different expression which represents a different variety of pie. For example a pie with an X mouth stands for Mexican Pie. A pie with a sideways C stands for Chicken and Mushroom Pie. It’s kind of like a DaVinci Code for pastry addicts.

Tully and I just can’t make up our minds. We’re like kids in a pie shop. But they make the selection as easy as pie and offer a six-pack and a twelve-pack of mini pies. By the way, they cater office lunches. Good to know.

We each decide to get a customized six-pack of mini savory pies. It is opening day after all, and as Tully later points out (to assuage any guilt we might have), the mini pies are just between 4 and 6 points on a popular weight management program. We quickly hurry back to the office with our six-packs of pie in hand, quite relieved that we don’t encounter Simple Simon on the way.

We crack open our six-packs and peer in. Is that giggling we hear inside?

Let me tell you, if your savory pie experience has consisted of gluey pot pies, you’re in for a treat. Pie Face is awesome! We feast on mini Chunky Steak Pie, Mince Beef & Tomato Pie, Chicken & Mushroom Pie, Tandoori Vegetable Pie, Thai Chicken Curry Pie and Mexican Pie. The crust is flaky, and the filling is full of big juicy chunks of tender meat.

And we haven’t even tried the sweet pies, or the Bacon Egg & Cheese Pie for breakfast. Ah well, there's always another Pie Day. Or is that Pi Day? I'm confused ...

By the way, notice any resemblance?

Just more evidence that you are what you eat.

Have a Nice Day!

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