The Pie Shack (2305 Queen St. East, just east of Glen Manor Dr.) has only been in business for four months, but it already seems like a Beach institution.
"I can't even imagine what it was like before we had the Pie Shack," one satisfied regular said recently, leaving the quaint storefront operation with both a blueberry and a strawberry-rhubarb pie. "Well, I just don't want to remember — the pies are so much a part of our life now."
The Pie Shack was the inspired creation of Tim McConvey, a longtime Beach resident and 21-year veteran of the Globe and Mail, who decided to take a new path in life.
While Tim was rushing to get the Pie Shack operational in the spring, a happy set of coincidences brought Daniel James onto the scene. Daniel is a professional actor from Collingwood who recently moved to Toronto, but he has also worked in the food and hospitality business for the better part of decade.
Tim and Daniel hit it off immediately and knew they could work together well in a very demanding, consuming (groan) business. The combined creative energy of their partnership throws off enough sparks to keep the Pie Shack hopping day and night, seven days a week.
The Pie Shack is open by 10 a.m. every day of the week and stays open until 10 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday. It's open even later on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. "Midnight-ish," says Tim.
Stepping through the screen door into the Pie Shack, you feel like you've entered a family cottage, with a wonderful assortment of random tables and chairs, eccentric decorations, cupboards filled with cottage books and games for a rainy day — and the smell of fresh pie and hot coffee.
"I really did want it to have the feel of a Muskoka cottage," says Tim. "The old, homey kind, not the movie-star designer kind."
The Pie Shack has succeeded beyond Tim and Daniel's wildest dreams.
"Before we opened, we thought we might sell 12 pies a day," says Daniel. . "From the first day, we were selling far more than that."
So much so that their first pastry chef had her fill of pies after just one day — and quit.
"We sold 28 pies the first day and realized we would need at least another 28 the next day," says Tim. "But on Day 2 all we had was half a strawberry pie in the fridge and no one to bake any more."
Once again fortune smiled on the Pie Shack. As a worried, sleepless Tim stepped out of his front door at 6 a.m. on Day 2, he bumped into his neighbour, Erez Hadad, a chef trained in the finest French tradition and owner of Cafe Florentine in the Beach.
Tim told him the situation and Erez responded: "How many pies do you need and what time do you need them?"
That was the start of a beautiful friendship, to paraphrase Casablanca.
Erez and his wife Karen set to work baking and Erez arrived at the Pie Shack at 3 p.m. with 16 fresh, delicious pies — the first of many.
On a normal day, the Pie Shack can expect to go through about 75 pies — everything from their signature fresh fruit on wonderful buttery crust to quiches and organic chicken pot pie and even the spectacular lemon meringue (special order only). The Pie Shack also offers sandwiches, wraps and pasta salads, made fresh daily.
Their record, the last time I talked to Tim and Daniel, was 104 pies in one day — 77 going out the front door as whole-pie sales and another 27 sold by the slice in the shop.
The Pie Shack's beauties are not cheap — $25 (including tax) for a full pie and $4.50 for a slice of fruit pie (add a dollar for cheese or ice cream), $6.50 for the meat pies. But, man, are they worth it!
So far I've had slices of the blueberry, raspberry and peach and bought a full strawberry-rhubarb pie — and my mouth is watering for more just remembering the taste experience now.
How do these guys do it, going full out 12-15 hours a day every day of the week? And to top it off, Daniel was doing double duty during their first two months of operation.
He was working in the Pie Shack during the day, then rehearsing for and later appearing in the musical "Hey, Marilyn!" every night at the Jane Mallett Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre.
"It was crazy but a lot of fun," the irrepressible Daniel says.
And that's what will keep the Pie Shack going strong for years to come — great pies, good vibes and upbeat people.
"Everybody's in a good mood here," says Daniel.
How could you not be, surrounded every day by the best pies in the city? It's a recipe for success.
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