Bike Basket Pies

These pies are made with love, and what could be better than getting pie delivered?
I preferred the shaker lemon to the broccoli quiche, not that it’s fair to compare sweet and savory. I definitely recommend trying these little pies. For me, they just reminded me that I need to get back in the kitchen and bake my own (they reminded me of home).
Natalie is a talented baker and certainly at a turning point in her business since Unilocal promoted her in an article.

My former co-​worker introduced me to Bike Basket Pies about 2 ½ years ago. Because we used to work in an area of SOMA that was a complete dead zone for any kind of food/​lunch options, we were always thinking of creative ways to get some decent food over to us!
Once every few months we’d place an order to Natalie and she’d ride her bike all the way out over to us. Her pies are literally like little works of delicious art. Extremely yummy works of art. The crust on these pies is mouth watering and all of her flavors taste wonderful — even her savory ones.
When it came time to plan my wedding back in 2009, I knew I didn’t want cake or cupcakes. The first thing I did was to get into contact with Natalie and ask if she was crazy enough to make pies for my wedding.
Here’s what’s messed up about me asking her: 1) She’d never done a wedding before 2) She’d never produced the number of pies I was requesting. Her pies are always sold fresh so to ask her to make the number of mini pies I asked for was a form of pie making slave labor. Throughout the whole process she was always so nice and professional. She was very flexible, even though I upped the number of pies when it came closer to the big day (oops).
Frankly I don’t know how she pulled it off but she did with total finesse. All of the guests at our wedding raved about her pies and asked me where they came from b/​c they’d never seen anything like them before. Anyway, thanks Natalie for being a pie rock star. Your pies are simply the best. :)

This review is long overdue, as BBP is by now a SF street food veteran. More than half a dozen street vendors have called it quits already, including several pie vendors like The SF Pie Truck. But Natalie G.‘s bike delivery service is still going strong. The $ 5 per pie delivered ($ 1 less if u find her on the street) is not that cheap for these miniature pies (aka. mini galettes), but worth it. The allure for me is that the seasonal handmade pie recipes are unique and delicious. For example, I haven’t seen anybody else make combinations like nectarine and raspberries or beets and apples pies. I think I heard someone say once that she’s originally from Argentina.
Custom orders for standard size pies are $ 30 ($ 5 refund for returning the pie tin). It’s a favorite vendor of vegans because she’s happy to make custom pies to fit their dietary needs.

I need to thank my coworker for living where she does — right in the delivery area of Bike Basket Pies. Without her I don’t know how I would get some of this yummy goodness. Oh, how I love the amazing crust and delicious fillings. So good, so seasonal, so sad I can’t have more. I’m forever teased by the tweets of her weekly menu.
My coworker suggested we go in for a whole pie together. Can’t quite figure out how to say sure, but get it all for myself. Hmmm…

I first read about this in an article in SF Gate – how cool, I thought! I loved the concept, I loved the product (pies!), and love supporting a local entrepreneur.
Today I ordered my first pies – one savory (Quiche with roasted pepper, caramelized onion, basil and ricotta) and one sweet (raspberry-​nectarine). Both were delicious! The crust was buttery and flaky, the filling was delectable, and you can’t beat the convenience of someone delivering lunch to your desk – especially someone as personable as Natalie!
The pies look small for the $ 5 but really, 2 of them were plenty for me for lunch and I loved supporting such a great small business idea. Plus, let me reiterate: PIE!

strawberry rhubarb is my favorite.

Placed my first order last week for one savory pie: potato, kale, and parmesan (homegrown kale) and sweet pie: one cherry plum (sweet tart).
Flavors and crust were impeccable.
Natalie was on time with my order as well.
I want to place an order next time for a WHOLE pie since I have a voracious carb burning appetite…

Totally delicious, deeply satisfying, beautiful balance.
Just enough sweetness and full of flavor. Excellent crust with a light touch. Can’t wait to try her savory versions.
Natalie’s passion permeates her pies, and ordering from her is as easy as…
She’s a peach to deal with, dependable, personable and dedicated.
A local gem. Happy Anniversary, Natalie~Long may you bake!

Loving the Bike Basket Pies. Great idea, great locavore culture, and super great baked goodies.
Carolina R. suggested that we order two pies, each of which feeds 4 – 6, for four of us to share. It sounded like too much, especially when our choices were beet and goat cheese galette or chard soufflé. Well let me tell you, I was more than a little bit skeptical of these atypical pie situations. But they were made from the owner’s backyard veggies and delivered by bike right to you. Well, you can’t really say no to that!
So I didn’t.
And man-​o-​man was I glad. They were an oasis of pleasure in my otherwise unfortunate workday. The chard soufflé («Oh, like SWISS CHARD! I thought it was going to be a charred soufflé!» — Kelly E.) was so cheesy it barely held together. The beet galette was sweet and salty and now its gone and everything sucks.

Pies: ridiculously good.
Natalie: ridiculously cute.
Buy em for your whole office!

The lemon shaker pie is one of the best things I have EVER eaten.
Natalie’s crust is just fantastic. I don’t know how she does it — I’d ask for a recipe but she does it so perfectly, I don’t think I could even attempt it! I can’t wait to try more flavors — I have yet to try a savory pie, and I’m dying to.
I love everything about Bike Basket Pies — local, delivered by bike, real food. And seriously? Freaking delicious.

Awesome rich crust + tasty fillings = stuffed after eating two.
400 degrees for 10 mins. YUM. Thanks for delivery, Natalie!

I love the crust of Bike Basket Pies — so buttery and flaky. Natalie uses fresh fruits for her sweet pies and they are not overly sweet. Its ideal with coffee or tea and is my favourite breakfast (if i can resist eating it as soon as she delivers). Her savory pie is a perfect complement to a nice home made salad for either lunch or dinner.
Natalie delivers her pies on a bike. Its a testament to how you dont need a big truck or van to provide simple service to locals.

I don’t twitter but may now seriously consider in order to properly stalk Natalie’s wee little scrumptious, undercover golden cupcake pies from heaven and single-​handedly go broke in the same season. Adoringly cradled, these plump persimmon and pear ginger paperweights made their way home only by way of me exercising copacetic self-​restraint so that they might be shared with the hunny. And like a stroke of magic his halves disappeared.
«Can I have yours?»
(Me silent, savoring every crumb. His lips are moving, but I don’t hear anything.)
«But I thought you were on a diet.»
(Like I said, I didn’t hear anything.)
Crack cakes are $ 5 a pop (if delivered) or $ 4 if you find her on the street.

I love fruit so much that I would marry it but I almost never eat pie or tart crusts. I eat around them, above them, below them, and scoop out all the fruity filling.
Bike basket girl pie dough is outstanding and I enjoy eating even the dough alone. Adam B. is right about the sugar seeping into the crust and making the dough almost candied.
The citrus flavors really pack a punch. They’re made with their rinds and have wonderfully intense flavors.
The persimmon is my favorite fruit in the world and bakers usually make it into a mush with pumpkin pie flavors (which I usually find to be tolerable but not great). The bike basket persimmon pie still has the same wonderful dough but the filling is just plain persimmon slices, maybe with a touch of lemon. This one needs some work.
The pies are all cupcake size and cupcake shape. If you’re not counting calories, you can easily fit two of them in your tummy. ;)

I bet her carbon footprint is a lot smaller than that cupcake truck! Perfect for pie lovers who enjoy crust since these little rounds have a higher crust-​to-​filling ratio than a traditional slice. The fillings appear seasonal and I was disappointed that there were none of the rumored savory options available. As with most street food, a perfect temptation when the time and location are right.
Orange: Why hasn’t anyone else served this pie? It’s simply amazing! Lots of candied orange zest with some sort of marmalade give this an enjoyably pungent in your face citrus burst. Perhaps an unattended side effect, the sugar from the filling leaks into the sides making the sides of the pie taste like candied dough.
Ginger Pear: Didn’t taste much ginger, but the ripe and in season pear was great! I imagine the sugar was limited since the natural sweetness could do the trick. There was a slight bit of filling mush surrounding the pear pieces to make it seem more like a pie than a tart. The dough was buttery a flaky… so glad there wasn’t any of that shady vegan dough going on!
Persimmon: The persimmon is definitely a special needs fruit, probably the first on the short yellow bus. It was softened, but completely in the original form. Seemed like dough wrapped persimmon slices rather than a pie with an actual flowing filling. Can’t wait until it goes out of season…

Love love love. That’s all I can say about Natalie and the bike basket pies! I’m thrilled to have had her come over and visit us at my work place. She was so kind to hang out with us (probably to catch her breath… we are on a hilltop), and chat.
I had the spinach potato cheddar (to die for), and the apple (comfort food and then some), and without a doubt, this was such a wonderful experience. She was kind enough to work with us on placing orders, and her visit was much appreciated. Follow her on twitter for sure and have some goodies. worth every penny!

What a talent! Natalie is a gifted pie maker. I first discovered her in the Go Game Street Food Adventure when we had to track her down via twitter and find her for a photo. Of course, We opted to try a few of her tiny little pies (priced at $ 5 each). She met us really close to our office and out of the basket of her bicycle presented us with some perfectly crafted delights. I had a vegan strawberry rhubarb which was amazing! I’m not a vegan but I like to try and eat that way when the opportunity presents itself and with her pies, it tastes like full fat and butter, so why not?!
I ordered a whole pie for an event coming up, and I was offered a choice in topping (cumble, no topping, and thick crust) and filling. She’s currently working out a deal where if you return the pie tins you get money back (kind of like a deposit). Can’t wait to try the whole pie, I think everyone is going to be thrilled!

I’m a sell-​out.
I’m ashamed.
I’m a slave to social networking.
I read about them on Unilocal and Facebook.
I opened a Twitter account for the sole purpose of tracking down these elusive pies delivered by bike basket. I cancelled all plans that I had so that I could BART out to the Mission to a «secret» street food singles party for no other reason but to try a pie. A hand held pie for one. Not one of those awful homerun pies (which are from my hometown of Livermore, btw); but a homemade pie. P:
You know how Jim from «American Pie» puts his. uh…you know… in…a…pie? It’s probably because it tasted as good as these do. Cherry almond. I don’t even like cherry pie. BUT I LIKE THIS ONE!!! I mean, seriously, these pies are worth doing embarassing and inappropriate things to because they are SO $%#@ING AMAZING!!!
Phew.
I no longer feel like a loser for selling out and getting a Twitter.
And now, some Warrant for my cherry pie.

These pies are seriously ridiculous. The strawberry rhubarb! The candied lemon! Heaven! OH AND THEY’RE VEGAN. Well, not all of them but I’m working on that (can I get a what-​what for Earth Balance?! Nevermind! Further, BLOW ME EARTH BALANCE IS THE SHIT AND ISN’T MILKED FROM THE UDDER OF A COW THAT’S USED UNTIL SHE LITERALLY FALLS DOWN AND DIES. Oh those are the lucky ones, the others go to slaughter. Actually, I can’t tell who the lucky ones are, opinions?)
SO ANYWAY, you should track them down on twitter @bikebasketpies and request so many vegan pies and then eat them all and be tremendously happy. You can then write me numerous love letters thanking me for sending you to this hand-​held pie in the sky gloriousness. Next, you can send me a blank check. After that, I’ll take the check straight to Singapore Airlines and buy a one way ticket to Tokyo where I’ll seamlessly blend into Japanese culture by losing 200 pounds and dressing like a cabbage patch kid. I don’t know, we all have different dreams. My point is, these pies are great. And only available on Tuesdays. FOR NOW. I have a feeling they are going to take off and become famous. Well, as famous as food products can become. Which is to say, very famous. Please see: The Hamburgular.
I need to eat dinner.
ALSO. follow @vegansaurus on twitter because we are hilarious and amazing? I mean!