18 replies to this topic

[chomer]

I walked up to Pie Sisters yesterday to check it out. The store is located on M Street in Georgetown right before 35th Street, across from the Key Bridge. The shop is really cute, a few tables with flowers on each one and an L shaped case holding cuppies (muffin-sized pies) and full-sized pies. Erin, one of the sisters, was very helpful about explaining the savory pies to me. She told me that their full-sized chicken pot pie (which also comes cuppy-size) can be ordered by phone ahead of time for dinner and when you bring back the glass pie plate you receive $5 back. It looked really good but I opted for 3 coconut custard cuppies and 1 cherry cuppy to take home to my husband and daughter. Now I am not a huge fan of sweets so I didn't try any last night, although my daughter did and she said it was really really good. But this morning I was hungry so I ate the coconut cream cuppy for breakfast and, oh yeah, it's really really good. The crust was incredible - flaky, browned to a pretty tan color. The custard was amazing, not too sweet, with flecks of coconut and it was topped with fresh whipped cream and a pretty pie pastry leaf on top. I just realized it probably would have tasted even better yesterday, if that is even possible. I've been dreaming about it all day. Goodbye cupcake --Hello cuppy.

[Al the Pal]

I also stopped by yesterday. They had the cuppies which are like cute little tarts and pies by the slice as well as beverages. To me the cuppie priced at $4.00 was less than half the size of the slices which were quite generous in size and cost $5.50. At the time I thought wow, it is a much better deal to get a slice. I bought a cherry cuppy or cuppie or whatever and a slice of bourbon pecan chocolate (BPC) pie. The BPC was incrediably rich and I cut it into thirds. You could taste the bourbon and the mix with the chocolate was just great. However, it tastes like an uber calorie splurge and that was just eating 1/3 of it. Today I ate the cherry cuppie/y and I loved it. The crust was flakey and yummy. So I can see why someone might want to get a cuppie/y since the crust/filling ratio is much higher than the slices!!
Normally, my go to place for coffee/dessert in Georgetown is Baked and Wired which I still LOVE. However, I think Pie Sisters is a contender especially if I find myself on that end of M Street.

[Drive-by Critic]

Wow. $35 for a nine-inch pie? You get a $5 credit towards your next purchase if you return the glass pie plate.

That had better be the best pie on the planet. It had better have high-grade cocaine in the crust. And ground diamonds in the filling.

And you have to give 24 hours notice for all orders?

[TedE]

"Hand pies" are the new cupcakes.

[ktmoomau]

What type of savory pies do they have?

[ozgirl]

Sunday, I stopped into the Pie Sisters to see what the potential new trend in bakeries was all about. The blackboard menu listed many flavours of pie (sweet: pumpkin, classic apple, lemon cream, coconut cream; savory: chicken pot pie, a chili pie, and others I can't remember). Unfortunately, the only whole pies available were the pumpkin and chicken with lemon cream and coconut flavours available in the "cuppies". I had a hankerin' for the pumpkin, but the desire to have a greater crust/filling ratio won out and I went with the lemon "cuppie".
It was tasty! A really amazing crust - such flaky goodness and the filling had a good strong lemon flavour and not overly sweet (just the way I like it).
For the next time I find myself in Georgetown, if it's down to Georgetown Cupcake vs. Pie Sisters, as much as I like the G'town cupcakes, for a few cents more and a little more walking, I'd opt for pie.

[bookluvingbabe]

Not open on Mondays. Says she who found a parking space easily yesterday.

[mdt]

Wow. $35 for a nine-inch pie? You get a $5 credit towards your next purchase if you return the glass pie plate.

That had better be the best pie on the planet. It had better have high-grade cocaine in the crust. And ground diamonds in the filling.

And you have to give 24 hours notice for all orders?

When you combine quality ingredients with a GT storefront did you expect anything less? That said are they much more expensive than other bakeries around the area?

[Drive-by Critic]

When you combine quality ingredients with a GT storefront did you expect anything less? That said are they much more expensive than other bakeries around the area?

I didn't expect anything. High-quality pie seems to be the newest kid on the block, so not much to compare it to. I did a little stroll through google and found this place in mid-town Manhattan - http://www.littlepie...om/Default.aspx - where rents are no doubt at least as high as they are in Georgetown.Their 10-inch pies go for $30, so slightly better deal because it is a little larger pie and you don't have to return the pie plate to get to that price.

Two Little Red Hens up in Yorkville (Upper East Side of Manhattan, also high-rent district) is said to be phenomenal but their online menu does not have prices. Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn - supposedly the best in NYC - the pies range from $32 - $38 for nine-inch pies.

So if NYC and G'town rents are on par, then I guess Pie Sisters is not out of line.

[porcupine]

Pastry is my kryptonite, so there's no way I could stay out of Pie Sisters for long. The space is lovely, the concept is great (and I'd love to see something challenge the cupcake's supremacy), and because I'm a staunch supporter of small business I wish Pie Sisters all the success that those other sisters down the street found. But the pies themselves? I had a slice of coconut cream and a bite of my friend's apple cuppie. The apple filling was nice. The coconut cream was insanely sweet. The edge of the crust was nicely flaky, and the bottom of the crust held up to the wet filling nicely, but the crust was flavorless.

Take this for what it's worth. Most people would think these pies are great; at least I hope so, because I really do want Pie Sisters to succeed. But I'm a nut for pastry. I've been known to scrape off the filling in order to finish the crust. Pate brisee is something I whip up in my spare time so that I can eat pie crust cookies or have a shell in the freezer ready for a last-minute dessert or quiche or whatever. So as an admitted pastry snob, I found Pie Sisters' crust to be... adequate.

[porcupine]

Another jaunt to the dog-end of Georgetown, another slice of pie: Key lime in a crumb crust. Great crust, great filling though more sweet than tart (I like it tart). For those who believe it Can't Possibly Be Good If It Isn't Authentic, beware: whipped cream (lots of it) on top.

Sampled the crust on Mr P's chocolate pie. I will agree with above posters about how flaky it is. In terms of texture, it is an excellent crust. But this time, again thinking it flavorless, I asked. Flour, sugar, vegetable shortening... no butter.

The place has room for another counter or more tables. I think (hope) they'll be needing them soon.

[DanielK]

...Key lime in a crumb crust. Great crust, great filling though more sweet than tart (I like it tart). For those who believe it Can't Possibly Be Good If It Isn't Authentic, beware: whipped cream (lots of it) on top.

I don't think whipped cream makes a key lime pie non-authentic, but I'm always confused when there's a layer of meringue...

[bookluvingbabe]

I tried the cherry "cuppie" last week. Nice pastry. As with most cherry pies, the filling was way too sweet for me. Let the sour cherries shine!

[saf]

I don't think whipped cream makes a key lime pie non-authentic, but I'm always confused when there's a layer of meringue...

The husband used to get sent to Key West on business fairly regularly. He claims that the key lime pie there ALWAYS came with meringue, and so, I now must do that too (he really likes it that way now. I still prefer whipped cream.)

[laniloa]

I've had the pleasure of spending much quality time in the Keys for most of my life. There are many, many places that serve key lime pie with whipped cream, including some of the classic establishments. I much prefer whipped cream to meringue on my key lime pie.

[darkstar965]

I don't know. Made it here this week for a first visit. Will validate a few things and then offer a few new things:

Validating

- Love the space. Plenty of light. Exposed brick. Reasonable space/routing for any traffic flow to/from service counter/cases. Cute.

- Crust. Excellent, flaky and, for me, flavorful too. Didn't ask about the ingredients as Porcupine did upthread but, if it is still margarine, kind of a bummer but know some bakers swear by it relative to butter or lard for reasons I've never fully appreciated.

- Definitely the slices seem a better deal than the cuppies unless you're really more about the crust since crust-to-filling ratio much higher with cuppies. Though I did really enjoy the crust, personal pref for higher filling to crust ratio in pie.

- A cherry slice we tried didn't have a unique or especially great filling. Thick and syrupy and too sweet as many lower priced and lower quality pies would have. Does cherry pie have to have that thick syrup or is there a place around here that makes it in a way that honors the fruit more? Not sure.

New thoughts maybe not already posted

- Tough location? Thousands of cars pass this place every day, streaming from and onto the Key Bridge. But not really any parking to speak of and, though technically in Georgetown, foot traffic at this end is a small fraction of what it is more to the east along M Street.

- Only 3 tables and a counter. Someone upthread hoped they'd soon need to increase the number with growth but that probably can't happen now due to the next bit of news.

- As you walk in now, there are two huge tanks of liquid nitrogen on the right with infotaining covers headlined "Sweet Freeze" and offering trivia bits like the fact that Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has an atmosphere of nearly all nitrogen. Hmmm, great. So, those tanks are the eye-catching part of their new "homemade ice cream" station. I tried a chocolate and it was okay but not at the level of others we've discussed elsewhere on the site. The interesting thing about this is they are totally emphasizing process over ingredients. Aside from the tanks, the ice cream maker (human and machine) emits some noise and big clouds of white mist when running the mixer from the cold nitrogen. Back to the Futurish type cosmic coils connect the tanks to the mixing bowl. Ice cream maker dude uses a torch with noticeably large and dancing blue flame to keep the sides of the mixing bowl from freezing....or something. Maybe I'm in the minority on all this but I'd much rather see them lessen the show and more emphasize a high-quality ice cream product sans fanfare and another couple of tables instead of this station. No idea what ingredients are being used in the ice cream but could tell from the taste that the butterfat content wasn't especially high and the chocolate either milk, lesser quality, not that great or some combination thereof.

- Seems like a big missed opportunity that they don't have a serious coffee program. They could do what Dolcezza has done with a great coffee program to complement super premium gelato. Here, when I asked what the coffee was, I was told "decaffeinated or regular" (just standing drip coffee on offer).

The pie crust was really good. The staff are very nice. And I'll bet that some of their other pies' fillings may reach higher levels than the cherry. As with other posters upthread, I'd love to see these sisters make it and represent a strong, enduring alternative to global cupcake dominance. I'm not sure this will be that. I wouldn't bet on it. But I'd sure like it if it was.

[porcupine]

- Crust. Excellent, flaky and, for me, flavorful too. Didn't ask about the ingredients as Porcupine did upthread but, if it is still margarine, kind of a bummer but know some bakers swear by it relative to butter or lard for reasons I've never fully appreciated.

Vegetable shortening is what they told me, not margarine.

[Al the Pal]

Really enjoyed a slice of the strawberry lemonade pie last Friday. It appeared to have two layers of filling: lemon cream and strawberry covered with whipped cream and some sliced strawberries in a graham cracker crust. I don't think they have this pie every day. The store was not very crowded. Most orders were for take away and not for eating in.

[wendydb22]

Their Coconut cream is a dream! Drool!