FACIAL expressions reflect what a person feels. A smile indicates that he (or she) is happy. A frown shows displeasure. Brows that are arched should tell you that he’s angry. Sadness can also be read easily from one’s face. But when these facial expressions are on a pie, they tell you what filling or flavor it has. So you’ll definitely see a lot of different faces on the pies, both savory and sweet, of Pie Face.
Pie Face is a chain of bakery cafes that originates from Australia. They specialize in gourmet, handcrafted pies and pastries that are made from scratch using only premium ingredients and baked fresh in the store throughout the day. To ensure freshness, they are not baked in a commissary and just brought to the store. Instead, they are prepared in the store and served oven-fresh. So, they contain no preservatives at all. And when you order them, you get amused by the smiley faces that are hand-piped on the surface of each pie, and these smiley faces indicate the flavor of the pie.
Besides the pie faces, what makes these pies extra special is that great care goes into the preparation of each pie. The puff pastry on top of each pie, for instance, is made the traditional French way, which is folded four times to achieve a delicious, flaky crust. Each pie is also brimming with filling, which has no extenders, so that one pie can already serve as a full meal.
Since Pie Face originates from Australia, where meat pies partnered with coffee are really popular among diners, its best-sellers include Chunky Steak and Classic Australian Mince. Adapted from popular American flavors are Philly Cheese Steak and Hickory Pulled Pork.
Other signature savory pies are Curry Vegetable with a Kick, Mediterranean Chicken, Chicken & Mushroom, Steak Bacon & Cheese, Spicy Chili con Carne, and Lamb Pot Pie.
When it comes to sweet pies, Pie Face’s offerings are Cappuccino, Lemon, Mango, Green Tea, S’mores, Raspberry, Oreo, Dark Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Butterscotch, and Key Lime Pie.
Aside from savory and sweet pies, Pie Face also serves pastries, brownies, cookies, muffins, sausage rolls, sandwiches, salads and cakes. It also serves gourmet blends of Di Bella coffee that have been created exclusively for Pie Face. Di Bella’s Artisan Roasted Coffee has won Australia’s most prestigious specialty coffee competition, the Golden Bean Award, for three years, and their unique blend of 100% Arabica beans is a combination of beans sourced from Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil and Peru.
Bringing Pie Face to the Philippines is Michelle Chan, chief executive officer of Pie Face Philippines. The idea of bringing the brand and the dining concept to Manila came from a trip that Michelle made to India in early 2014 to attend a friend’s wedding. There, she met another visitor of the marrying couple, Alfred Lay, chief operating officer of Pie Face, and their conversation touched on the pie business in Australia. Everything happened so fast after that. Michelle and Alfred talked in April of 2014 and explored the possibility of bringing Pie Face to the Philippines, they signed their agreement in August, Pie Face Philippines’ kitchen opened in February of 2015, and by May, the first store at SM Mall of Asia opened. Immediately following were branches at Techno Plaza 2 in Eastwood City, SM Megamall, SM Fairview and Bonifacio Global City.
With more branches to open in the Philippines, it may be time to start exploring which ‘pie face’ you love best at Pie Face.
