FOOD NEWS: Pie Shops Top the Trend list for 2011

Move over cupcakes, there's a new tasty treat in town! 2011 will be the year of the pie. Andrew Freeman, of Andrew Freeman & Co., consults on marketing for restaurants and hotels nationwide. He predicts the number one trend of 2011 will be pie shops. Just how cupcake shops have been very popular over the past several years, now pies will be the next big thing.

It seems as if Mr. Freeman's prediction is right on the money. Seattle now has two brand new pie shops that just recently opened. High 5 Pie opened it's shop in the Trace Lofts building on 12th Avenue on Capitol Hill. Dani Cone, of Fuel Coffee, is the owner of the pie shop. High 5 Pie offers all types of sizes and flavors of pies. Their Piejar is a mini pie baked right in a mini mason jar! The Flipside is a handheld turnover for pie-on-the-go. They also have 7 inch and 9 inch pies. You can even take a pie home and bake it in your oven! They also have Piepops, which are pie lollipops! Find out more about High 5 Pie at their website http://www.high5pie.com/

The second new pie shop in Seattle is simply named Pie. It's located in Fremont at 3315 Fremont Avenue. Pie is co-owned by Jess Whitsitt and Renee Steen. This pie shop offers mini pies. Pie isn't your average pie shop. Jess and Renee bake sweet and savory pies. Their offerings include all sorts of meat pies, vegetable pies, ground turkey pie, a smoked salmon with goat cheese pie, and pies with sausages in the pie crust. They will also offer sweet pies. All pies are freshly baked between 7:00am and 3:00pm Monday through Friday, and 8:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday. Pie has a late night window for walk-up purchases. The window hours are 8:30pm to 2:30am on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. So now you can grab a few mini-pies to take home for dessert after dinner.

If pies become as popular as the recent cupcake and ice cream shops, we just may see a few more pop-up around Seattle. Now go get some pie!