O Pie O
 Cincinnati, Ohio      Date of Visit: 09/08/13      http://sugar-n-spice-restaurant.com/

Didn’t go to O Pie O. Wanted to, like the name, like pie. Wasn’t going to have time but leaving The Echo for breakfast, we found they had a stand at the “Farmer’s” Market just around the corner in downtown Hyde Park. They were handing our samples of their honey vinegar pie, nice crust and sweet custardy filling. I was über intrigued by their whole pies…the honey vinegar we tried, but the other two were Rhubarb and Peach Paprika. Good season for the Rhubarb and curious about paprika and peach together. Apparently you can get slices at the shops…but not at the market??? And having seen the menu on the sign thought they should call them mortgage pies. Not gonna happen.
 

Interesting Combinations & Significant Prices
 

Instead we got one each of the hand pies…a rustic Umbrian veggie, a ham cheese and roasted red pepper, strawberry frangipan, and a creamy blueberry. The crust on all the pies is a seriously flaky and darkly baked pastry. Very nice. The green of the veggie pie (spinach & kale maybe?) was peppered with the concentrated tangy acidity of sun dried tomato, much more interesting than expected. Thick slices of ham, yellow cheese and thin strips of roasted red pepper came together fairly well, the best part of all the pies was the crust.

The blueberry suffered from a much skimpier filling than the other three pies, end of the batch or on purpose, who knows, but it was too bad since whatever dairy went with the fruit added a full richness to the mildly tart berries without quashing them. Would have been much better anywhere near as full as the others. The almond flavor of the frangipane worked well with the strawberries…and there was enough to make a difference. These are very Bougie pies, nicely constructed for the most part, interesting and well combined flavors, but more a rare treat for the masses.
 

A Lot Of The Blueberry
 

Almond Paste