Dinner and a Drive: A couple slices of Pie Town, New Mexico

Silver and gold miner Clyde Norman struck it rich in the mid-1920s, but it wasn't precious metals that put money in his pocket – it was pies made from dried apples.

Around 1922, Norman, a World War I veteran, filed a claim to mine silver and gold along a cattle trail known as "The Driveway." However, the mine played out, and Norman struck gold with his bakery, which served pies to sweet-starved cowboys looking for a tasty snack on the trail.

At first, Norman's bakery was the only building for miles, and the area was referred to as "Norman's Place," but as people began to settle in the area, its reputation for tasty pies led to the name Pie Town.

More than 100 years later, Norman's tradition is being carried on through the work of a pair of restaurants, which have two different recipes for success and make Pie Town, New Mexico, a worthwhile road stop.

The Pie-o-neer

You'd best put the brakes on well before getting to Pie Town and settle down because Sarah Chavez and her pie-baking crew have all the rush they can handle in the Pie-o-neer's tiny kitchen. For those willing to take a breath and settle down, there's an eclectic assortment of delicious sandwiches, soups, and, of course, pie.

While you are waiting for your food, the walls of the Pie-o-neer can tell the history of Pie Town. They include large photographs of Pie Town in the 1940s captured by Library of Congress photographer Russell Lee.

Four years ago, while operating the café down the road at the same time, Chavez took over operating the Pie-o-neer after several owners had parted ways. She felt it was time to take a cue from her pie recipes and start from scratch.

"We started with a clean slate and just really wanted to tell the story of Pie Town and what it was like back in the 40s to watch people coming through the Dust Bowl, and that was very important to me to show the story," Chavez said.

As she talks about her journey, Chavez is covered up to her elbows in a light covering of flour. Eight people are working in unison to make pies of every kind.

There couldn't possibly be enough foot traffic to buy them all, but pie-hungry people across America can place their orders by calling 1-877-PIE TOWN (743-8696). As the website reads, "Shipping a Pie? Give us a call. We are "old school" that way!"

"I tell the girls to tell our customers we're not fast food. We are slow cooks. We're making pies, and we have limited ovens," Chavez said. "Be patient, and I promise you will have the best scratch meal you've ever had in your life, but if you don't slow down, or you get huffy with me out there, we have one rule. We don't put up with it."

Chavez may like her customers to take it slow, but she's always full speed ahead in working to please them, and part of her process is not having the same old standards. The Pie-o-neer is currently in the middle of its "As American as Apple Pie" series, where a different "state pie" is up for enjoyment.

"Right now, we're on Kansas. We started right at the beginning with A's, and now we've worked our way up to Kansas," Chavez said. "We're doing a Topeka dirt pie this week.

It's not your little three-year-old sister's dirt pie but a baked chocolate delight that will have you asking for another slice in a to-go box. Customers may encounter pies they have never heard of before, but all of them lead to deliciousness.

The Gathering Place 2

Take a master pie maker, a man with a head for customer service, and a chef who has appeared on the Martha Stewart Show, and you have all the ingredients for the recipe that will bring folks to the Gathering Place 2 in Pie Town.

While smoked meats and pies are the staple of the Gathering Place 2, for Valentine's Day this year, the kitchen of chef Ray Jones turned out cod fish with a lemon white wine caper sauce served with rice pilaf and vegetables, and there was also chicken with blueberry red wine reduction and a mango salsa.

Jones is handy in the kitchen or if you need custom countertop work, which is what led to him meeting the world-famous Martha Stewart. While working on Stewart's home, a fellow employee mentioned to Stewart that Jones was a trained chef, and the two hit it off. His initial appearance was so good that Stewart invited him back for a second show.

"I told her that I actually had a culinary background. I told her you have to see the irony because I still work in the kitchen. She got a kick out of that," Jones said

Jones' cooking starts from scratch; even the salad has croutons made in his kitchen. As he turns back toward his oven, the sounds of pie crust being slapped come from the bakery.

A little over a half year ago, Cheryl Bently was offered the opportunity to take over the Gathering Place 2 and called up her son Paul Rader, who was living in Idaho, when his mother called about carrying on a 100-year-old tradition of selling pies in the middle of almost nowhere New Mexico.

Bently has been in the pie-making business for eight years, and she knows what she wants her customers to experience.

"When I'm looking for employees, I want them to be part of our family, and I want them to be passionate about Pie Town and the people here like we are," Bently said. "I'm a classic apple pie girl, but we've got so many varieties. Everybody's going to have a chance to pick a favorite."

The name Pie Town struck her son as a favorite right off the bat, and there was an allure to going to a uniquely named place for Radar.

"I can think of 20 cities in the entire country that are actually named after food, but there's only one Pie Town," Radar said.

He's well qualified with 25 years' experience in the restaurant business, and he's driven to succeed.

"There's been strong positive feedback from the community. I've had people telling me they heard about us in Albuquerque, and they drove all the way out here to have some lunch. We've had people who were from Phoenix, so the word is traveling and that's great to hear. The food's good, the workers are happy and people have just started gathering up." Radar said.

The Drive

Pie Town has been referred to as the "Sweetest Little Ghost Town in New Mexico," but it's still a lively place along US Highway 60. Motoring the roadway along takes you through all of New Mexico's landscapes and over the Continental Divide.

Pie Town's Pie Festival

Pie Town hosts its annual Pie Festival on the second Saturday of every year. It includes activities like music, a pie-eating contest, a pie-baking contest, and the PiK Fun Run and Walk. You can learn more at https://pietownrisingstars.org/PieFestival.html.

There's the Baldwin Library in Datil, the Very Large Array, Magdalena and Quemado Lake. Speaking of arrays, there's also The Lightning Field, a land artwork in Catron County by sculptor Walter De Maria. It consists of 400 stainless steel poles with solid, pointed tips arranged in a rectangular 1-mile × 1-kilometer grid array.