New Vermont spot serves savory pies with hipster flair
The scene: For many food lovers, pie season ended last Thursday with Thanksgiving, after a solid pie-centric summer that prominently featured apple, along with baseball and hot dogs, a trio of all-American faves, plus seasonal highlights such as blueberry and cherry. But crust lovers need not lament, as pie season can go on indefinitely thanks to the savory version, pies that make main course meals. In this country, the most famous example is chicken pot pie, but our heritage of meals encased in dough hearkens back to our English roots, and in the United Kingdom, entrée pies stuffed with beef, lamb, chicken and many other items are common lunch or dinner choices.
Piecemeal Pies, a newcomer in White River Junction, Vt., brings this Anglo tradition to life in a town that has been accurately called Vermont’s Brooklyn. Not too long ago, the Amtrak station was the main attraction of a fading downtown that has suddenly and spectacularly rebounded with quirky stores, vintage resellers and eclectic eateries, all within a stone’s throw of the station, and while the breakfast café, which turns into a Turkish restaurant for lunch and dinner, that shares an entrance with Piecemeal Pies is a close second, none is quirkier than the pie spot.
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The doorway is also shared by a third establishment, an organic hair and beauty salon, and upon entering Piecemeal, visitors are immediately in front of a counter with a glass display case full of savory pies and topped with cookies and other desserts. Menu boards hang on the exposed brick walls behind the counter, there is a broad selection of Northeastern hard cider on tap, and the entire place has a pronounced hipster flair. A very open production kitchen is immediately to the right, where pies are churned out throughout the day, and to the left is the dining area with a few small tables around the perimeter, a dining ledge in the window overlooking the train station, and a communal table in the middle, though much of the business is to-go. If you take out, each pie box is stamped with an ink logo of the pie choice, such as a pig for pork.
Reason to visit: Rabbit and bacon pie, sea salt chocolate chip cookies, artisanal hard cider
The food: Chef/owner Justin Barrett worked in New York City at April Bloomfield’s renowned gastropub, The Spotted Pig, and equally acclaimed, The Fat Radish, but was looking for an opportunity to feature locally grown food and locally raised animals. Vermont beckoned, and the result, according to Barrett’s own site, is “a British inspired pie shop and local hard cider bar…using local, organic and seasonal ingredients.”
Barret’s take on pies is authentic enough to feel like a slice of the British Isles transplanted to New England. There is a standard slate of varieties, though not all are offered every day, as well as daily specials, but there are always enough options to offer a good selection, including a few non-meat choices. There are also some sides and salads, many with a similarly English flair, such as a plate of minted peas, but the pies are definitely the main event and reason for visiting.
The staff is very particular about which pies are ideally served warm and which at room temperature, and it is best to heed their advice whether eating in or taking out. An English classic, Cottage Pie, the rare non-individual example, is a casserole (like shepherd’s pie or lasagna) served in squares and at room temperature, full of sautéed Swiss chard folded into meat, with a crusty and tasty mashed potato top. It is very tasty, but most of the offerings are individual pies with pastry crust all the way around, the best of which are the Rabbit and Bacon (a bestseller that they are often sold out of), Curried Lamb, and Pork and Parsnip. In general, the fillings are substantial with sizeable chunks of discernible real meat that is well sourced from local natural purveyors, and in every case, the pies have a clearly homemade flair with a good crust that is firm but not hard, and buttery rich at the same time.
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For me, the non-meat alternatives came up a bit short: the Feta and Spinach pie looked better than it tasted, and the Curried Vegetable, while good, was not as wowing as its lamb brethren. On my last visit, they had Cornish pasty as the daily special, a handheld pie that is the UK’ s answer to the empanada, and this was also quite good, with a flavorful pork and beef meat mixture. Another special, the Scotch pie, with a hard-boiled egg in its center, was the most impressive looking of all, but was bland compared to the regular menu mainstays.
There are a lot of things to like about Piecemeal Pies, especially the audacity of the undertaking in this spot, showcasing an esoteric specialty in myriad forms in an area that might be suspect of supporting the concept, yet it has been busy since opening. Seeing the staff at work producing pies from start to finish in clear site is a big plus. The desserts are also a surprising winner and in particular, the sea salt chocolate chip cookie is a stunner. But I have to say, as a longtime Vermont resident, the prices seem very high, almost prohibitively high, for the area, and they need to get their processes worked out – on a recent visit I ordered a pie to-go, which entailed taking it out of the case and putting is it in a box, literally 10 seconds of effort, but the staffer simply put my receipt into the lineup of table service orders and I stood there and waited and waited while they prepared entire meals with sides and drinks for those eating in, which sort of defeats the entire concept of “takeout.”
Pilgrimage-worthy?: No, but White River Junction is booming as a Vermont tourism destination and this is a funky and memorable place to eat on a visit.
Rating: Yum! (Scale: Blah, OK, Mmmm, Yum!, OMG!)
Price: $$-$$$ ($ cheap, $$ moderate, $$$ expensive)
Details: 5 South Main Street, White River Junction, VT; 802-281-6910; piecemealpies.com
Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a barbecue contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.
