Photos by Alexis Macklin and Courtney Pedroza
With pie as the mainstay, it’s no surprise that the fourth annual Pie Social exceeded expectations Saturday at the Ro2 Lot pop-up park on Second and Roosevelt streets.
Nearly 700 people attended the event, easily surpassing event coordinator Cindy Dach’s expectations of 400. The proceeds from the event were given to the Phoenix Union Bioscience High School‘s arts program as well as its Green Shovel club.
“People downtown are really busy, so to watch them on the grass with a fork and some pie, I don’t think you can ask for more,” Dach said.
Dach said beyond the social exceeding attendance expectations, this year’s home-baked pie quality had skyrocketed. The creations were both elaborate and unexpected.
Fourteen celebrity chefs from across the Valley competed at the pie social for different recognitions, including best presentation, best taste and best in show. The results will be posted Monday on the Phoenix New Times’ Chow Bella blog.
One of the celebrity chefs was Katherine Dwight, pastry chef at Phoenix Public Market Cafe. Her creation for the competition was an apple crumb pie, which she has been perfecting since she began baking pies at 12 years old. Though Dwight was competing for Best in Show, she said she still had a sweet demeanor toward her baking challengers.
“I’m just happy to be here, to try some good pies and hopefully win,” Dwight said.
Even though the headlining event of the pie social was the celebrity chef pie competition, the day mainly offered the chance to experience and give back to the downtown Phoenix community.
“Pie isn’t something you eat by yourself, it’s something you share with the people around you, and so it seems like the perfect kind of food item to connect the community,” said Stephanie Grijalva, an art instructor at the Bioscience High School downtown.
In fact, the pie social was created for the very purpose of settling strife among the artists of Roosevelt Row in 2009.
Dach said after attending a community meeting that ended in a yelling match, she left thinking that what everyone could use was a big slice of pie.
Soon after, Dach called up a fellow baker whose New York bakery, Bubby’s, had previously hosted its own pie social. After a 10-minute mentoring session, the pie social concept was brought to Phoenix.
Within its short existence, the social has expanded not only in attendance but in entertainment offerings.
New to this year was music performed by local band Pick and Holler, as well as live T-shirt print screening and even square dancing.
“What’s not to like about pie and awesome bluegrass music?” said attendee Mandy Watkins, a Phoenix resident whose favorite pie of the event was the sweet potato pie.
The pie social will keep the momentum of this year’s success going into next year, with some prospective additions already being mentioned.
Pie Social 2014 attendees can expect to see a competition between 20 celebrity chefs, Dach said.
Dach also mentioned a possible pie fight in the street for next year’s activities lineup, though this could not yet be confirmed.
“This is an event that will live in the community for many years to come,” said Nicole Underwood, the director of operations at Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation.
As a final stamp of approval for Pie Social 2013, there was not a crumb of pie left over at its conclusion.
Contact reporter at kristy.westgard@asu.edu
