It’s Absolutely Not Too Early to Order Your Thanksgiving Pie

While it’s true that we’ve yet to don our finest Halloween attire and, in most places in the Bay Area, the leaves have yet to complete their transition from emerald to gold, the truth is this: It’s time to start thinking about your Thanksgiving table. At least, it’s time to start thinking about it if you want one of the fresh, flaky pies from the mega-hit Oakland pop-up Edith’s Pie (though it’s soon to make the transition into a permanent space) to top off your meal.

As fans already know, the pie pop-up’s Thanksgiving orders can sell out fast — as in, within a couple of hours of opening — so here’s what you need to know for this year. Orders for Thanksgiving pies will open tomorrow, Friday, October 21 at 10 a.m. You’ll want to head to the Edith’s Pie website, where there will be a banner for Thanksgiving pie orders up top. The menu, listed below, includes seven options ranging from classics such as apple and pumpkin to less traditional flavor combos such as persimmon and ginger, which also comes in a vegan iteration. Pick-up will be on Tuesday, November 22 or Wednesday, November 23. And double check which date you pick when you place your order because, as Edith’s Pie co-owner Mike Raskin says: “It does matter.”

Edith’s Pie

Notably, pick-up will take place at Edith’s Pie’s upcoming Oakland cafe, which the owners hope to open next year. The space at 412 22nd Street, previously home to Taiwan Bento, will be a place for diners to get fresh-baked slices of pie all day — because why not pie for breakfast, Raskin quips — to eat along with a glass of wine or a low-ABV cocktail. “There's not really a cool place to do that in the Bay Area that I can think of off the top of my head,” co-owner Jeffrey Wright says. If the duo has it their way, they’ll open, naturally, on March 14 of next year, through Wright cautions that variables like how long construction and permitting take will ultimately determine the opening date. “It’s honestly, really and truly, not up to us,” he says.

But if fans want to do their part to help speed things along, the partners launched a Kickstarter last week with the goal of raising $95,000 by November 28. The money will help “patch up [the] last round of funding,” Wright says, and donations come with rewards ranging from t-shirts, stickers, and slices of pie to VIP access for future Thanksgiving orders and a one-year pie subscription. “There are myriad rewards, including one I hope no one picks where you can slam a pie into one of our faces,” Raskin adds.

The business has come a long way from its humble, pandemic-era beginnings when Raskin was working at a butcher shop after leaving the restaurant industry but felt a craving for a more creative outlet. He started baking and selling pies out of the driveway of his one-bedroom apartment in East Oakland, which is where he first crossed paths with Wright, who came by to pick one up. An industry vet in his own right, but on the ops side, Wright was already helping other chefs navigate the permitting processes necessary to get non-restaurant-setting businesses off the ground. Raskins’ baking chops were all the proof he needed to know he wanted to help Edith’s Pie grow. “The pie was like, out of this world,” Wright says. “It’s still out of this world.” The rest, you could say, is history.

If for whatever reason, you miss the ordering window for pie orders tomorrow, there may still be hope. The pair says they’ll likely release additional Thanksgiving pies sometime later this month (last year it was on October 23) and, though they’re not sharing details now, they partnered with some other businesses who will be offering Edith’s Pie pies for the holiday. As a Hail Mary, there’s also the possibility of cancellations on pick-up day, in which case the extra pies will be available for walk-up purchase. For all these updates, check the Edith’s Pie Instagram. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving pie production is already underway, Raskin says. The small but mighty team of three has produced some 100 pounds of the 400 pounds of dough they’ll need in total. They’ll also be hosting an apple peeling party to enlist friends and family to help with processing all that fruit — think, pizza and beer, and lots of peels. “It’s a nice event,” Raskin says with a laugh.

Edith’s Pie Thanksgiving menu

• Double Crust Apple ($40)
• Apple Cranberry Oat ($38)
• Pumpkin ($35)
• Maple Pecan ($38)
• Chocolate Hazelnut Cream ($35)
• Persimmon & Ginger Streusel ($38)
• Vegan Persimmon & Ginger Streusel ($44)

Edith’s Pie

Edith’s Pie