Pie in the Sky Bakery & Cafe

Austin Bakery Pie in the Sky Sells Pot Pies | Eater Austin

"Operating as a home bakery in Austin, I found Pie in the Sky Baking Co. is highly focused on savory six-inch pot pies made with Julie Nguyen’s handmade rough-puff crust. The regular drop always includes a classic chicken pot pie—made with white meat, a creamy roasted-bone gravy, and vegetables—and a rotating second pie that can be a vegetarian mushroom pie or a beef pot pie that channels pho with bò kho spices and lemongrass; Nguyen describes the beef version as a fusion of her Vietnamese roots and the nostalgic American beef-and-potato pot pie, inspired by her habit of dipping a baguette into bò kho broth. She traces her pie obsession back to a rustic but delicious turkey pot pie she made in 2013 and to childhood nostalgia—“Food is my love language,” she writes, and “Nostalgia is my obsession”—and she began selling pies to coworkers, friends, and neighbors at the start of the COVID pandemic in March 2020 after an initial Valentine’s Day flyer in February 2020 proved successful, later expanding to Instagram and the Hotplate platform in fall/October 2023. Pie drops have no set schedule and are announced on Instagram; she sometimes offers sweet pies and other baked goods, and is exploring ghost kitchens, farmers markets, and wholesale opportunities with the long-term goal of opening a bakery and café." - Nadia Chaudhury