NYC: Bakery Review - Little Pie Company

Little Pie Company - visited November 18, 2016

It turns out Mama Mia wasn't that far from the Little Pie Company. We found Little Pie Company by looking on yelp what would be a highly-rated dessert place where we were. Then I saw that Little Pie Company was one of the vendors that sold on Foody Direct, an online food website I've ordered from before. Naturally I wanted to go see it in person and taste their product to assess their viability as a source for online food ordering. If you ever want to support small businesses, particularly those in the food industry, Foody Direct is a great place to find them. It can be a little pricey but I'd rather budget for it and support a small business with a quality product than go mass market for something that isn't as good.

Even if I hadn't had that justification, as the patron at Mama Mia told us, once we got close to the Little Pie Company, we'll "smell something really good". She was not kidding. Wow. Shawn and I were walking down the street, following the GPS directions and we hadn't gone far before we were both assailed with the most marvelous aroma. Not just of baking pies but just marvelous baking goodness. Enough to unspeakably thrill your olfactory senses. No need for GPS once we got within sniffing distance.

As with many "mom and pop" bakery places, space is at a premium. This looked like the kitchen was slightly bigger than the retail space of bakery display counters and a few tables to sit at. Which is always good with me since you want as much room as possible to bake all that pie goodness.

As you can tell from the picture of the display case, they also do little cakes. I really wanted to try one of the cakes but had to succumb that when you go to a place called the Little Pie Company, you should get try their pie.

We decided to try two of the smallest pies - the Mississippi Mud and the Old-Fashioned Apple Pie. They were $8.50 each. Being me, being in New York City, and hey, it's pie, I didn't blink. Sure, $8.50 might seem like a lot for a little pie but it really isn't. Especially not for delicious pies and these were delicious pies.

We decided to get the apple pie boxed up to go and eat the Mississippi Mud Pie at one of the few tables in the retail area. That turned out to be a brilliant decision.

It was brilliant because the very nice lady at the counter heated up the pie for us before serving it on a plate with two forks. OMG. This was the most decadent, most rich, fudgiest "pie" I've ever had. It was more like a cross between a molten fudge brownie and fudge lava. All warm and pure chocolate.

Yes, we were full from the pasta at Mama Mia and no, it didn't matter. Mississippi Mud pies are usually characterized by marshmallows but there wasn't a speck of fluffy white marshmallow in the pie. I suspect they melted it into the chocolate itself and that's what contributed to the moist, fluffy yet dense, smooth richness. I normally don't like marshmallows but if they got melted into this pie to make up its texture, that was all right by me.

mini apple pie wrapped up to go

peeking into the kitchen where pie magic is being made

We didn't have the apple pie until much (much) later. And I have to say, I loved this possibly even more than the Mississippi mud pie. When it comes to pie, I'm all about the crust. The crust on this pie was magnificent. Not too soggy, not overly flaky but just right. I love apple pie and the apples in this pie were firm but not tough and not mushy.

Plus, come on, look at how cute that little pie is. So major thumbs up for the Little Pie Company. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. The locals know what's up as while we were in line to get our mini pies, the guy behind the counter kept regretfully telling customers who asked that they were no longer accepting pre-orders for Thanksgiving pies but that they'd put some out early when they first opened next week. This was the week before Thanksgiving. They sold out! Maybe they're the pie of cronuts. They certainly tasted like it. I will definitely be ordering from The Little Pie Company via Foody Direct for future foodie gifts.

Since writing this, I did order from The Little Pie Company via Foody Direct for a Christmas gift and got their sugarless apple pie for my brother-in-law who's watching his sugar intake. The pie was decent but I have to admit, it needed sugar, haha. Also, because it had been en route for a few days rather than the same-day pie I had in New York, the crust was softer. Not soggy really but definitely not as flaky as the one I ate on premise, so to speak. Next order I'm going to place is for the regular apple pie, same as the mini I ate before to see how it compares and fares in shipping. If you're ever in Manhattan, near Times Square, I'd urge you to try Little Pie Company in the flesh.