Now, look. I live in New York City, but I'm a midwesterner by heritage (and a west-coaster by birth!). When it comes to my taste buds, I like to imagine I'm eating through life with an eye toward both down-to-earth sanity and aspirational luxury. I don't need everything I eat to be beautiful, trendy, or perfect. Still, I can appreciate good food, I have enough income to pay a fair-to-inflated price for dishes made by others every so often, and I know how much work it can be to create an amazing mouthful.
This established, I am horrified at the price of whole pies around here. Pie-men (I mean this as a genderless term) in NYC ask a lot for their creations, and I think it's gotten out of control. For example, I have a lot of affection for a Brooklyn establishment known as Pies 'n' Thighs. I treasure their "chicken box" dinner close to my heart. But their whole pies cost $30. Yeek, I say. Yeek! That's expensive.
I've bought, eaten, and made a lot of pie in my lifetime. I'm willing to pay a fair price for a good one, too, but frequently the $30 pies of the world (and I'm not talking about pies from Pies 'n' Thighs specifically because I can't afford them) do not measure up to the down-home simplicity and pleasing flavors of, say, an Amish creation retailing for $4.25 (as advertised in the photo at the top of this post).
I took the picture up top at The Green Dragon to remind all of us that a delicious pie need not break the bank. I mean, I'd pay more than $5 -- I don't want to rip off any pie-bakers -- but I doubt the Amish women selling these pies were doing so at a loss. I know people selling homemade pies will have to charge more than that per pie if they don't grow their own fruit, but there's a lot of room for fair pricing between $5 and $30.
I'm taking a daring, political stance: Accessible pie prices for every man, woman, child, and person who does not identify as male or female!
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