MARCH 2021 quieter but still busy. We probably made 1,200 to 1,500. Our next most active holiday is Easter, and then probably a toss-up between Mother’s Day or the Fourth of July. Apple crumb is number one any time of year, followed by pumpkin and then pecan. We do several variations of each – green chili apple, pumpkin praline and bourbon pecan. How many pies do you usually have available? We always try to have an apple, key lime and chocolate cream available in-store. For the rest of the flavors, we rotate them every week, trying to reflect the season. Our case usually has five or six different flavors plus a cheesecake flavor of the week. We don’t have themed flavors, but we do our best to honor special requests like birthday messages on pies or recipes that we don’t usually make but are willing to recreate for customers. I love hearing about unusual pies that people remember from their childhood. What kind of unusual pies? Flapper pie, which is a vanilla cream pie topped with meringue and sprinkled with graham cracker bits. Also, a pie called sour cream raisin. It’s exactly like it sounds, sour cream and raisins, topped with meringue. I had one customer who brought me flowers after I made it for him. Very nice! I think that pie people are a unique group. They usually have very detailed memories about pies they have enjoyed in the past, and they love to share those stories with us. The nostalgia that they experience when they eat our pies is very touching. Which pie is your favorite? Razzleberry. It’s a good mixture of tart and sweet. It has blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. Which pie is the hardest to bake? The custard pies like buttermilk or lemon chess are tricky because there is a fine line between done and overdone. What about working during the pandemic? We are fortunate to have survived the pandemic so far. It saddens me to think of all the small businesses that were not so fortunate. We were able to stay open thanks to our wonderful and supportive customers. I believe that pie was an appealing snack choice to people during this stressful time because it is a very comforting and familiar food. What is your advice for someone who wants to get into the baking industry? Do not underestimate how physically demanding this line of work is. Try to find your niche, the one thing that you feel you can do consistently well and work to improve that continually. If you have a vision, listen to your instincts and follow through. What is the best part of owning your own business? The worst? I have two favorite things. I have enjoyed seeing employees that have worked with me for several years change and grow. The second-best part is what it has taught me about myself, my abilities, strengths, weaknesses and resilience. It’s an intense experience. The worst part is sometimes not being able to turn off my brain. I’m always thinking about the next pie! In the Kitchen with Traci Wilbur of Pie Snob The new shop is located at 250 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler. We plan on opening in late March, early April. Does the pie-making tradition reach back to your childhood? My mother and my grandmother Helen were the people who taught me how to bake. My mother was the official pie baker in the family and always made the Thanksgiving pies. She is still a better pie maker than me! What does a day in the life of Traci Wilbur look like? I usually get to the kitchen around 8 a.m. I’m not a morning person, so that’s the best I can do. Every day is different. Some days we have lots of special orders; some days we’re just making pies to stock our stores. Some days, we’re focusing on restaurant orders (we supply pies to all O.H.S.O. locations, Black Cat Coffee, Cock N’ Tails, Wally’s Arcadia, Clancy’s Pub and Pizza Grill, Little O’s and Pie and Wine). In the afternoons, I’m usually doing paperwork, ordering supplies and planning for the days ahead. How do you cope with the craziness during the holidays? I try to remember that no matter how tiring or stressful it gets, we make a product that makes people happy and nostalgic, and I think that is pretty cool. About how many pies do you sell in the peak season? We made about 3,000 pies for Thanksgiving in 2020. Christmas is 3630 E. Indian School Road 3630 E. Indian School Road • piesnob.com piesnob.com I I n the I n the I K K K K itchen itchen K itchen K In the Kitchen case usually has five or six different flavors plus a cheesecake flavor of the week. We don’t have themed flavors, but we do our best to honor special requests 8 a.m. I’m not a morning person, Some days we have lots of are willing to recreate for customers. I love hearing about unusual pies that people remember from their childhood. Cat Coffee, Cock N’ Tails, Wally’s Arcadia, Clancy’s Pub and Pizza Grill, Little O’s and Pie case usually has five or six different we’re just making pies to to honor special requests like birthday messages on pies or recipes that we case usually has five or six different flavors plus a cheesecake flavor of the week. flavors, but we do our best to honor special requests 26 By Mallory Gleich F rom the casino to the kitchen, Traci Wilbur’s career had an unusual start. She went from selling slot machines to baking and selling pies out of her garage before opening a brick and mortar shop in 2017. Whatever her business plan happened to be, it worked well, as Pie Snob is an Arcadia favorite and one of the most popular spots to stock up on all things apple, pecan and chocolate cream. Wilbur took a break from baking to talk about her history as Arcadia’s pie snob. Where are you from? I was born in Shirley, Massachusetts. My father was stationed there during the Vietnam War. When I was an infant, we moved to Arizona because my father was born here, and my mother attended high school here. I grew up on the west side, specifically Glendale. I went to Moon Valley High School (Go Rockets!) and moved to the Arcadia area in 2001. What’s the story behind Pie Snob? When my youngest child started preschool, I was looking for something new to do. A friend suggested that I try selling my pies, so I made a handful for my close friends that Christmas and Pie Snob was born. I started out of my home kitchen in 2008. By 2009, I needed more room, so my husband built a commercial kitchen in our garage, and I worked there; people would come and pick up their pies. We opened the storefront in 2017. The Pie Snob name came about because I was reading people’s comments about pies online, and several of them prefaced their comments with the phrase “I’m a pie snob…” I thought, ‘yes, me too!’ Tell us about your other locations. Our second [Uptown] location opened a week before Thanksgiving in 2019 at 6522 N. 16th St. All of our pies are made at that location, which has a huge kitchen. We managed to make hundreds of pies out of my first commercial kitchen at my house, but the logistics were a nightmare. Having a large kitchen makes a huge difference. We were providing pies to Civic Market, a cool little restaurant/salon in Chandler, and we fell in love with the area. It has a local small-town vibe that we enjoy. We’d been trying to find a space there for over a year now. Once we found the right home for us, we were so excited!