The ladies behind popular Brooklyn-based pie company Four & Twenty Blackbirds will once again bring their sweet and savory desserts to Orient come May.
An opening date has not been set, but co-owner Emily Elsen expects the café to start serving up the Portland, Oregon-based Stumptown brand coffee by early next month. Her homemade pies will soon follow. She expects the store, which she describes as a pop-up shop, to be fully up and running by Memorial Day.
“We love being out there and we’re excited to do it,” she said.
Elsen makes the salted caramel apple, lemon chess and strawberry balsamic pies (to name a few) at her commercial kitchen in Brooklyn. Her friend Toby Bannister, who lives in Orient, makes the 200-mile roundtrip to deliver the rich treats to the East End. Four & Twenty Blackbirds operated on Village Lane in Orient last year from July until Thanksgiving.
“The pies will be brought out freshly baked two times a week,” Elsen told northforker on Tuesday. “I’m planning to offer savory pies again and house-made pastries.”
Elsen, who co-wrote the cookbook “The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, Uncommon Recipes From the Celebrated Brooklyn Pie Shop” with her sister, co-owner Melissa, bakes her homemade pies in her 3,000-square-foot commercial kitchen in Gowanus. That facility, which is much larger than her previous production space, opened late last year.
“We have a larger production facility in Brooklyn and we have a larger capacity. If somebody needs 100 pies, we can move 100 out there,” she said.
Elsen plans to add seating and hire an additional employee to help move inventory this year.
Pies whole and by the slice, homemade ice cream sandwiches and coffee will all be available at the Orient spot, which has traditionally been home to an ice cream shop.
For more information, hours and orders, visit Birdsblack.com.
