The Pie Distraction

photo via Flick User Cobalt123
I forgot to post yesterday. I have been a bit stalled out creatively and since the weather has been nice (ok, yesterday it was nice) I haven't wanted to be sitting in front of the computer. sigh.
Let me make it up to you with a story:
About a week ago I applied on a whim to make pies for a local restaurant/vintage shop. I did this because I quite like making pies (and quiche and whatnot) and assumed I would never hear from them because I am not at all a professional pastry chef. Not by anyone's stretched imagination.
Imagine my surprise when they called me Thursday night and asked me to come down to interview for the position! I gathered up some recipes and wore comfortable clothes and prepared to tell them that yes I was 6 months pregnant but luckily baking is something I can do (and do often at home!) up to and after I have the baby! Woo!
I drove to the most awesome converted warehouse space just south of the big ballpark in downtown Phoenix. Inside I found a very harried building manager and heaps of gorgeous vintage clothes, an old school gym, a soda fountain, and an Airstream trailer that housed a full kitchen...amongst other awesomeness.
I spoke very briefly to the building manager who has been making the desserts. As it turns out she needs someone to take that job from her so she can do her 1,000,000 other duties. I spoke to the kitchen manager who was a lovely man who really thought I could do the job and liked my style and showed me the whole space.
As it turns out they are just a bunch of people who have a passion for this and are trying to make it work. None of them are professional chefs, have ever run a restaurant, let alone an indie mini-mall (it will eventually house a local flower shop, a record store and another clothing section...and of course a pie shop!) and they are looking for someone with just as little experience and just as much passion as them to do it too!
The kitchen manager told me I was at the top of the list for the letter I sent along with my resume (which is WOEFULLY short on food service experience). That they would love to have me come in and try to do the job...once they nail down what the job is. But they want my help with that too.
So I am going back to The Duce, hopefully the next week, to talk with the owners of the building and the building manager again. To try and figure out what they would pay me, when I would work there, and how I can help them become a force to be reckoned with in the downtown scene.
And truthfully? If it doesn't work out, I will totally patronize them anyway, they have awesome stuff and their food is to die for! If you're in downtown Phoenix anytime, go check them out, try the lemonade (holy delicious), pick up some vintage clothes or have a burger and check out the sign for "The Pie Whole" on your way out, it's next to the coffee shop...maybe that will be my space! :)