'Pies By Fasano' Coming Back To Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago taste treat is making a comeback -- and word that "Pies by Fasano" have returned for the first time since the 1980s to selected stores and restaurants has people hunting for them.
Peter Fasano relaunched the piemaking firm six weeks ago, using the fruit pie recipes his father and grandfather made famous to three generations of Chicagoans.
Using a rented kitchen, Pies by Fasano is supplying a handful of stores and restaurants, including the Village Gourmet in Clarendon Hills and Gatto's Restaurant in Downers Grove.
He said he has been looking for a permanent location that also would allow him to expand selections to include cream pies and would include a company store.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports
Podcast
A little publicity may be speeding up that process.
Fasano said that when he checked his phone messages and e-mails Thursday afternoon, he found 150 calls and 90 e-mails -- all from people wanting to buy pies or offer them for sale. And many had stories.
"The stories -- they just keep getting better," he said, telling WBBM Newsradio that many were centered around the same focus, themes of "families and togetherness."
Fasano said his pies are still "as good as mother's and better than others," the slogan his father and grandfather used for years. He said he has not been in a rush to expand and does not want to go from start-up to a flash in the pie pan.
"They outgrow it, and I don't want to do that," he said.
Fasano's plans also call for pie trucks -- not just to make deliveries, but to sell on the streets of Chicago. He is currently seeking city permits for a pie truck that would sell primarily "junior pies," -- the single-serve pies that were staples of school cafeterias in the 1950s and '60s.
