Saturday, October 17, 2009

Dangerously Delicious Pies

D.C.'s dessert scene is about to get dangerous. The Baltimore institution Dangerously Delicious Pies is opening up shop on H Street, NE in November. We recently stopped by their Baltimore location and offer a preview of coming attractions.

We first learned of this rock n' roll pie shop in an Express article on Baltimore desserts (see our post here). It's located in the trendy Federal Hill neighborhood near the baseball and football stadiums, and the Inner Harbor. They offer whole pies (call ahead to place your order) and pie by the slice. If sweet pie isn't your thing, you can buy mini savory pies in flavors such as steak, mushroom, onion, and gruyere pie or mushroom and swiss quiche.

There's no chance I'll pick a savory pie with so many tantalizing sweet pies on the menu. They have a rotating selection of flavors available, but the Express article pointed us to the Baltimore Bomb. It's a combo of a traditional Southern chess pie (we'd love to tell you what that is but we're not exactly Southerners) and Berger cookies (a local Baltimore treat). We also tried the White Trash Creme Brulee (a cinnamon custard pie).

The Baltimore Bomb was bombtastic. The chocolatey cookies melted into the vanilla custard of the pie and made for a unique texture sensation. The White Trash Creme Brulee was more memorable for the name than for the pie. It was a pretty standard custard pie with cinnamon sprinkled on top. Might be good if you're eating it in a trailer park, but when you are paying $6 a slice (!) it didn't cut it.

While I don't think the pies are Dangerously Delicious enough to make a trek to Baltimore, it is definitely worth a visit once they open up shop in D.C.

Second Thoughts from B

When we first spoke of our love of pie (see our post here), I broke down the great cake vs. pie debate through a basketball analogy. At the risk of going to the well one too many times, I'd have to say that our experience at Dangerously Delicious Pies is akin to a 2009 Pistons fan's view of Allen Iverson. Great name, kind of little, and overpriced (the analogy even works with the tattoo vibe in the store). Would you enjoy watching him on your team? Yes. Would you enjoy watching him on your team if you knew he was being paid almost $21 million - more than 4 and a half times what Chris Paul makes? Not as much. On a side note, AI in his prime was one of the all-time greats and one hell of a competitor but he's not worth $21 million - consider he was just signed for $3.1 million...

The point is that Dangerously Delicious Pie is good pie - maybe even delicious pie - but for $6, it better be great pie, or at least a huge piece of pie. In my opinion, it was neither. In comparison, the heavenly Goober pie (chocolate and peanut butter) at the Afterwords Cafe is twice as big, twice as good, and about the same price ($7.43) with table service. Unfortunately, the only thing in danger at Dangerously Delicious Pies is your wallet.
Dangerously Delicious Pies on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

MC said...

Zing!

Anonymous said...

this is a seriously assinine post. Clearly these 2 aren't any sorta authority on good food. Fresh ingredients, atmosphere, and a unique take on something sorta old fashioned is just scratching the surface on why DD is worth 6 bucks. You pay 11 for a martini a afterwards...I mean seriously. Put it into perspective would ya before you go attacking some guy who loves what he does, does it right, is a huge fan and supporter of his city, and made a name for himself by putting himself out there so people like you could hide behind you comuter screen and be an asshole. Gross.

B said...

We apologize for the previous commenter's language but so that we don't seem like a-holes hiding behind our anonymous computer screen, we felt like we should share this food authority's opinion. While we disagree with their take on our post, we would encourage anyone to reread what we said to see if it merits such a response.

Alix said...

I don't think what you wrote was mean, and I think we all put different values on things. For Anonymous, a piece of homemade pie from a local business is worth $6, but for J and B, the same piece of pie isn't worth $6, even though they did encourage people to try Dangerously Delicious for themselves.

We all work hard to earn our money, and we have every right to spend it how we wish without judgement from others. I might think that it's silly to spend $500 on a stereo but would happily spend that amount on a purse (well maybe not quite that much, and not very often - hi M!)

I think it's easy for anyone - J, B, and Anonymous included - to say things on the internet that they wouldn't say to someone's face. But in this case, knowing J and B, I don't think that they would hesitate to say what they wrote to the owner of the pie shop. And speaking of hiding behind computer screens, why didn't you give your name, Anonymous?

In summary, I would like an $11 martini, please, but not from Kramerbooks. I prefer U-topia. Anyone have a problem with that?

Anonymous said...

Ha! That response pretty much rocks. Oh no hiding here just no URL or whatever. I'm rick. I get defensive. Sorry to offend and yeah I woulda called some of those comments if said in my presence, assinine up front with no hesitation...but I get it. To each there own...and mine just happens to be Dangerously Delicious' pie I guess...