A 27-year-old woman smiled as another person stared in disbelief after hearing what pie she was serving at the second annual Chow Bella and Roosevelt Row Pie Social.
“Bacon brownie pie?” the man asked again.
“Bacon brownie pie!” Phoenix Public Market baker Aimee Sosa replied.
Exchanges like these continued throughout the three-hour pie social held at a parking lot at North Fourth and East Roosevelt streets on Saturday. For $10, or two home-baked pies of their own, families received five “tasting tickets” which allowed them to sample slices of pies.
Professionally baked pies were also available from Sosa and 12 local bakers as they competed in a contest organized by the Phoenix New Times food blog, “Chow Bella.” Pie-eaters voted in four categories, and winners will be announced on the Chow Bella website Monday or Tuesday.
Proceeds from the event benefited the Phoenix Union Bioscience High School.
“I think (this event) is wonderful. Any time something supports education, there’s no reason not to support it,” Sosa said. “We need to revive Phoenix, and to do that we have to support any positive institution like the Bioscience school.”
Cindy Dach, director of the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation, brought the pie social idea to Phoenix after seeing similar events in other cities. Dach said the pie social is a part of the Adaptive Reuse of Temporary Space (A.R.T.S.) program that beautifies vacant parking lots.
“Pie is love. This event is also a community event to bring people together, get to know each other, and eat some pie,” she said.
Each pie social will sponsor a Phoenix educational institution. Last year’s pie social raised $500 for the Kenilworth Elementary School. The amount of funds raised at this year’s event will be determined later this week.
Thirty Bioscience High School students helped set up the tables and served pies to the crowd. Chris Estrada, a sophomore at the school, volunteered for four hours to help promote “urban vibrancy.”
“The goal is to have a breathable, flowing community where businesses are stimulated and everyone knows each other,” Estrada said.
More than 30 people sat on concrete curbs eating their slice of pie until the end of the event.
Contact the reporter at alicia.m.canales@asu.edu
