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We opened on January 10th, 2004! |
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LMNO’Pies Specialty: Old-fashioned, Homemade
Wisconsin State Journal :: RHYTHM :: 10
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Mark Lundey
Finally, there's a place where you can get a good
old-fashioned homemade pie without driving to the Norske Nook in Osseo or
waiting for the annual area church dinners every fall.
LMNO'Pies, 5957 McKee
Road, has been open for six weeks in the Oak Bank Center on McKee Road and
Seminole Highway in Fitchburg.
"We'll give you the
best pie and we're just down the road," owner Lindsay Gehl says.
Gehl started making
homemade pies about seven years ago. She would give free slices to customers at
her mother's store on East Johnson Street, Florilegium Antiques. The folks there
liked her pies so much they encouraged her to market them to more (paying)
customers.
So Gehl decided to sell her homemade pies at area farmers' markets in locations
such as Oregon and Stoughton. She did a small farmers' market nearly every day
of the week for five years as well as events such as Fitchburg Days and Verona's
Hometown Days each summer.
Last year, she
concentrated solely on the Hilldale Farmers' Market, which is held on Wednesdays
and Saturdays.
That's when business
really picked up.
"I sold 80 pies in two
hours," Gehl says. "That was pretty normal" at Hilldale.
The next step was her
own outlet and after an eight-month search landed in Fitchburg with LMNO'Pies.
"This seemed like a
happy compromise for everyone," says Gehl, who grew up just west of Oregon and
attended the schools there and now lives in Fitchburg.
To say the pies are
homemade is an understatement. Not a single thing is canned or pre-made, Gehl
says. And she does all the work herself.
The pies are sold
retail and wholesale, and special orders are encouraged. Gehl did all of her own
marketing until about eight months ago when she enlisted the assistance of Mark
Jacobson of Jacobson Meats in Madison.
The small space is
located between the already popular Fitch's Chophouse and Barrique's Market just
east of Star Cinema. The bright yellow walls and red, glass-topped iron tables
and chairs in the small dining area are reminiscent of an earlier time, just
like the old-fashioned idea of making your own pies.
"I gave it the '50s,
'60s touch, back when pie was a thing," Gehl says.
On an early weekday
afternoon, all three tables were occupied and the store was busy with a steady
flow of takeout customers. I ordered a half-Veggie Pasty ($2.50) and a cup of
the Pot Roast Stew soup ($1.50). It was plenty. The pasty was filled with
broccoli, mushrooms and squash and came with fresh fruit on the side. The "pie"
crust itself was just right, that is, not too doughy and not too thin.
The soup was
outstanding, with huge chunks of roast beef, peas, carrots and onions in a tasty
broth. The pasty was served on an old-looking dull red-colored plate; the soup
came served in a large mug with a handle. Both plate and mug helped to add to
the overall 1950s motif.
Whole fruit pies are
available for $10.99, $2.50 by the slice. Cream and specialty pies are $12.99,
$2.85 by the slice. You name a pie, and she'll make it. There are also breakfast
pies, quiches and dinner pies. All are available as a whole pie or by the slice.
Bakery goods include muffins ($1.29), croissants ($1.25) and cookies ($1 or six
for $5).
Oh, I almost forgot. I
had a hankering for a piece of pie just the other day. You know, the kind mom
makes for you on your birthday. So I stopped by LMNO'Pies on my way home from
work. It was raspberry. And it was just the way I like it.
- LMNO'PIES
- Where: 5957 McKee
Road.
- Hours: 6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Monday through Wednesday; 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and
Saturday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.
- Phone: 235-5656; fax
276-4053.
Parking: free and
plentiful.
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