Miss American Pie Launches Fundraiser For Park Slope Storefront

PARK SLOPE – Say “hi” to Miss American Pie! Former fashion designer turned professional baker, Lindsey Hill, is looking to expand her online pie business into a brick-and-mortar storefront.

Hill launched a Kickstarter campaign this week to raise $30,000 to help fund her dream of opening a shop at 86 5th Avenue (between St. Marks Place & Warren Street) in the former Pinsa Lab space.

Originally from Illinois, Hill started baking at 14 using recipes from her mother’s “tattered Betty Crocker Cookbook.” During her 12 years working as a menswear designer in NYC, she often brought homemade treats to her colleagues who encouraged her to open her own pie business.

“Many people tell me that they can ‘taste the love’ that goes into each pie,” Hill told Bklyner, which is why she selected the slogan: “It’s what Love tastes like.”

Over the past couple of years, Hill has created approximately 30 original pie recipes, including vegan and gluten-free options. In 2016, she launched a website selling her pies and began participating at local pop-ups including a monthly vegan market at Pine Box Rock Shop in East Williamsburg. Based on her growing sales, she decided to branch out with a storefront.

Currently living in Mapleton—”a tiny triangle at the border of Borough Park and Bensonhurst,” she explains—Hill selected 5th Avenue for its proximity to Barclays Center and Atlantic Terminal. She describes the location as a “convergence of several different neighborhoods.”

“My mission is to provide unrivaled desserts and pastries in a relaxed, fun-loving environment that brings joy, facilitates community, and promotes a lifestyle of authentic relationships,” she explained. Hill hopes to “spread love through pie.”

She plans to create a “home away from home” for customers in an inviting 1950s diner-inspired space that exhibits work by local artists and hosts community events. Miss American Pie will offer an array of pies including her “Signature Pie”—a butter crust filled with apples, peaches, and blueberries and topped with a layer of oatmeal crumb and a lattice crust. The shop will also serve espresso drinks, cookies, muffins, and biscuits as well as some savory offerings including quiche, chili casserole, and chicken pot pie made with family recipes.

Funds raised from the Kickstarter campaign will go toward appliances and equipment for the new space, including ovens, coolers, a freezer, ice machine, espresso machine, and display case. Hill will thank donors with rewards including free pie, tote bags, t-shirts, aprons, a pie making class, and more, depending on the amount pledged.

Hill hopes to complete renovations by mid-July and be open for business in August.

She says while there are many good pie shops in the city, “most of them don’t serve classic flavors” and tend to cater to “very specific niche customers.” Miss American Pie will offer a wide a range of classic flavors. “I believe that most people are like me, in that pie is a memory food,” Hill continued. “It’s as much about nostalgia as it is about eating a delicious dessert.”

Click here to learn more about Miss American Pie and to contribute.