By Laura Hahnefeld | Phoenix New Times
In what is almost sure to be this year’s food-match-made-in-heaven, Mamma Toledo’s Pies will join forces with Short Leash Hot Dogs for a partnership of two of America’s favorite foods under one roof.
In an announcement made at this weekend’s Feast on the Street, the only pie truck in the Valley will have its very own space, called The Pie Hole, inside Short Leash’s new brick-and-mortar restaurant at 110 East Roosevelt Street and slated to open in mid-June. The venerated food truck of gourmet hot dogs wrapped in warm naan “buns,” Short Leash Hot Dogs is owned by Brad and Kat Moore.
“I jumped out of my skin when [Short Leash] called me,” says Mamma Toledo’s owner Tonya Saidi. “They’re great people to work with.”
Here’s what pie fans can expect.
Saidi says The Pie Hole will occupy about 150 square feet of the Short Leash restaurant and that the space will feature a walk-up window as well as a few tables inside.
In addition to her scratch-made pies (available as whole, mini, petite, and by-the-slice in flavors like rhubarb, Key Lime, and banana peanut butter chocolate creme), The Pie Hole will offer other homemade gourmet treats as well, like chocolate eclairs, cupcakes, muffins, and Toledo Twisters — cool creations of homemade ice cream mixed with pie Saidi says are like “pie Blizzards.”
Saidi says she’ll do her baking in the morning, before Short Leash takes over the kitchen, and that the new space could allow her to do custom orders faster than before.
“I get calls for sugar cream pie and raisin pie,” she says. “Custom pies used to be a 24-hour turnaround but depending on how we work in the kitchen, I might be able to do one in two hours.”
Saidi says she’s keeping her Mamma Toledo’s pie truck and will continue its schedule of regular food truck stops. And although she’s still working on logistics, Saidi says, she’ll keep the pie business in the family with herself and her two daughters spending time at both the truck and the permanent space.
“I’ve been looking for my own place for a while,” Saidi says of her new venture. “It’s always been in my mind. I knew it was time.”
