Spotlight On:
Pino Pies
As part of our ongoing series, we are interviewing people of interest in the area who are having a positive impact on our community.
This time, we reached out to Dulcie and Troy of Pino Pies!
What inspired you to start Pino Pies?
We have been pretty spoiled living in places like San Francisco and Miami which have a colorful food scene. While Bishop most definitely has some of the most scenic and diverse landscapes, its food scene has potential to grow; We are seeing more food trucks and pop ups with different flavors and I think the locals and travelers are digging it. While we were living in New Zealand Troy started a Taco stand at the night markets in South Auckland. Kiwis (a common name for New Zealanders) loved this “exotic” food (though it was hard at times to get tortillas). We got a laugh out of kiwis trying to pronounce quesadillas.
Kwissa-di-lla!” A common food to us in California, suddenly becomes exciting overseas. Here in the northern hemisphere, we switched polarity and brought pies from NZ to CA. We like to eat good food, we choose to support local producers if we can, and we feel there is a real need for down home hospitality. Pies are an easy grab and go for the working man, or can be fancy sit down like the beef wellingtons around Christmas time. There’s a pie for everyone! Plus, it’s a great way to meet a lot of Kiwi and Aussie customers. There are a lot of us around.. (NZ is too small to hold us all).
Can you describe the process of developing your menu?
The process of developing our current menu, involved a serious amount of pie eating for research. NZ’ers love curries, as do the Brits, and I think the typical Butter chicken pleases a lot of palates as it has lots of flavors but isn’t too crazy spicy for new curry eaters. Most of our pies are staple flavors in any New Zealand gas station or cafe.
You have steak, mince and cheese (or ground beef ) as we say here, lamb of course, and potato top, iconic, though we left off the traditional slice of tomato, and the pork & apple is kind of new, sausage rolls are pretty close to kiwi. Most of our recipes have developed over time and I’d say are pretty dialed in. But we like to make new stuff to keep it interesting. I am planning a long overdue trip back home, to see my old man.. and do some “research” at the local bakeries. I hope to bring back something new.
What do you enjoy most about operating a food truck?
The thing we enjoy most about operating a food truck, is definitely the customers.
You feel like a small piece of many people’s day and that can be a little encouraging. Or you can be a listening ear, or just a nice lunch break for the people who pass through.
What are your most popular menu items
Most popular items? Probably butter chicken, steak, cheesecake and even though we think we should change the name, “lamingtons” which is hard to say! (no lambs were harmed in the making of this raspberry dessert) some folks really like those.
Are there any special events or festivals where people can expect to find you?
One of our favorite events we look forward to is the Millpond music festival, which is in September. The music is great, and it’s just a fun event for families too. Friday markets have started up and will run till the end of the year. We often see a sea of faces we haven’t seen for a while! Super fun. We are looking into events further afield like renaissance fairs and historical re-enactments. Those have always sounded fun to us, though we have yet to go to one.
Where are you on a day-to-day basis?
Our typical work week consists of grocery shopping locally (for any items not delivered). We marinade meats, cut buckets of onions (currently at the Elks lodge) where we rent a kitchen, and bake flat out mid week to be open, just the three days at the trailer on church street.
Typically we post our whereabouts on social media as we may bounce around some, but most people know they can come to the back door of the Elks lodge to pick up frozen pies most any day of the week. I’m seriously considering a frozen vending machine. (in leu of a storefront) There is a huge amount of schlepping involved to run a truck and cook in a different location all the time. That is what we spend a lot of our time doing. Then there’s a family to tend to, and that is a blast!
A special thank you to Pino Pies for answering our questions!
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