Country Market Favourite Moves Into Former Heartbeat Hot Sauce Location
Story and photos by Nik Fiorito
After becoming a popular longtime staple at the Thunder Bay Country Market, Malcolm and Amanda Hope of Pie.ology recognized that the demand for their pastries had outgrown their original kitchen set up. As luck would have it, another local food company was enjoying a lot of success of their own and also needed to expand. That company was Heartbeat Hot Sauce, who moved out of their former home at 119 May Street South in mid-2020, allowing Pie.ology to step into the space and begin renovating it to suit their needs. That included additional office, preparation, baking, and customer pick-up areas. While work began in August, a number of COVID-related delays pushed the opening to late February, which means by the time you are reading this, they’ll be open (on select days, to be determined).
Pie.ology sells both fresh and frozen single-serve pies in a variety of flavours, both savoury and sweet. While the pies are all of a similar size, each one comes in as a heavier meal or lighter snack, depending on the ingredients and style. Some favourites include mac and cheese, ham and swiss, and a number of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack-themed treats. The menu changes weekly, and generally rotates on a three-week basis, with each week’s options being posted to their social media channels on Monday. The volume of home deliveries has, of course, picked up over the past year, and are dropped off on customers’ doorsteps every Sunday in frozen form for reheating throughout the week. The Hopes are also committed to remaining fully stocked at the market; the new production space will help keep up to the steadily rising demand their pies have created.
You can find out more at ilovepieology.com.