A small sampling of press coverage about Pie Town and the Pie-o-neer over the years. Stay tuned for more, or leave a comment with relative links.
The Great Pie Town Show Down
New Mexico Magazine, September, 2013
“Inside Pie Town’s fire station, a pair of white-haired women wearing aprons briskly check in pies from entrants in the town’s annual Pie-Baking Contest. With the mingled pride and apprehension of parents dropping off their children on their first day of school, the bakers surrender their best efforts, hoping for the glory of a Pie Town Festival win.”
Pie Town, NM: The Town that Pie Built
New Mexico True — Travel New Mexico, August, 2013
“There are multiple reasons to exit I-25 in Socorro and head west on U.S. Highway 60. . . Ask any pie lover, though, and they will tell you that ‘PieWay 60’ is the road to Pie Town, a must-visit destination in the quest for America’s beloved dessert.”
Going Places, Road Trip: Socorro to Gila.
New Mexico Magazine, March, 2012.
“Along U.S. 60, Pie Town is named for its signature dessert, and you’ll find plenty of it at the Pie-O-Neer.”
Best of the West: A Slice of Pie
Cowboys & Indians Magazine, June, 2011.
“There may be few things more American than apple pie, and fewer still that could better exemplify the flavor of the West than a pie shop called Pie-O-Neer in a hamlet called Pie Town perched high atop the Datil Mountain Range in New Mexico.”
Alien Territory
Outside Magazine, June, 2011.
“In the Gila, you’ll remember that the real roadside attractions are the little things you find in the middle of nowhere. (In New Mexico, nowhere has many middles.) And then you might wonder if this is where the ETs actually landed.”
We’re on the Map!
New Mexico Tourism Department’s Culinary Treasures Trail, 2010.
“Here, we celebrate restaurants that have stood the test of time, independent spots that have become beloved in their neighborhoods and beyond. . . Pie Town is itself an “honorary” Culinary Treasure, because of the long-standing dessert tradition that gave the hamlet its name. . . Today, the place to visit is the Pie-o-Neer on the town’s main street, “Pieway” 60, where operator Kathy Knapp keeps the history alive. Kathy comes from a long line of pie-bakers and each day she offers a variety of pie selections from her large repertoire.”
New Mexico Magazine
June, 2010 “Best Eats” Edition — Best Dessert
Downhome: Chocolate Cream Pie by Lesley S. King
Who would think that the nation’s favorite dessert would be thriving at the top of the Continental Divide, some 80 miles down U.S. 60 from the nearest city (Socorro)? Indeed, pies at the Pie-O-Neer are so delicious they’ve received acclaim from such publications as Travel + Leisure and Sunset. When making her renowned chocolate cream pie, chef-owner Kathy Knapp focuses on quality basics. For the crust, she combines equal portions of butter and lard. “The butter adds flavor, while the lard makes it flaky,” she says. Knapp uses her grandmother’s old-fashioned recipe for egg custard for the filling, then adds chocolate—including half a bar of gourmet dark cacao—until she “likes the way it looks.” To finish, she adds a “chunk of butter to make it glisten.” You’ll feast on this delicacy in an old trading post that borders “PieWay 60,” its authentic barn-wood walls covered in historic relics.
A Route 60 Tour of New Mexico and Arizona
Travel + Leisure Magazine, April, 2008.
“Pie Town’s official population is 60. It is located on the Continental Divide at an altitude of almost 8,000 feet. On the drive from Magdalena I hardly saw a soul. And yet the curious thing about Pie Town is that while you are at the Pie-O-Neer you feel like you are in the middle of everything.”
Rolling in Dough
Sunset Magazine.
“In a place called Pie Town, you’d expect to find great pie. But when Kathy Knapp drove the 150 miles from Albuquerque to Pie Town, population 75, there were no pies. . . So in 1994, Knapp, with the help of family and community, put the pie back in Pie Town, serving up her grandmother’s recipes…”