Thank You for Joining Us at the Table: Scenes from Our Pie Picnic

Thank you to all who joined us at Fabrik in Dumbo last Friday for our Summer Pie Picnic! We ate ourselves into sugar comas, digested over fun and informative “The Other Hour” style presentations, sipped Preface Coffee affogatos, perused the CoSee Summer Reading Book Swap bookshelves, did a little writing in memory of Summers past, and gabbed the night away. If you missed the evening (or want to relive some of the magic), here are a few highlights and resources.

If you don’t have a copy already, consider picking up a copy of Erin Jeanne McDowell's The Book on Pie. Whether you are a seasoned baker or pie-curious, you'll find invaluable pro tips for perfecting your technique and inspiring recipes of sweet and savory pies of all kinds. If you want more instruction, head over to her YouTube channel and website for tutorials to ensure pie-baking success!

Attendees brought out their best bakes and favorites from local bakeries. The savory pies went quickly, but a few other favorites included the Peanut Butter Cream Pie with Raspberry Meringue, the Cherry Clafoutis Pie, Claire Saffitz’ S’mores Tart, and My Name is Rose Tea Cream Pie.

The ladies from The Art of Fashion and Food set a beautiful scene for the evening, evoking the perfect picnic with gingham, red summer produce and florals, alongside homey, nostalgic elements. The aesthetic set the perfect easy, nostalgic tone.

Grab a checkered picnic blanket, put on your breeziest picnic frock, and queue up our playlist to recreate a taste of the aesthetics from our gathering.

There was a subtle literary theme woven into the evening inspired by the pleasures of summer reading.

If you missed the CoSee Summer Reading Book Swap, consider grabbing a selection from our Summer Reading List. Fabrik members will have the opportunity to keep the spirit of our Summer Reading Book Swap alive. All of the remaining books from our swap are going to kickstart a Fabrik member library with books open to check out or trade with other Fabrik members!

When I met Jeremy Bradford, the Founder of Preface Coffee a few weeks ago, I knew I’d found a like-mind and a gentleman who is creating something truly special with his coffee company! We were fortunate to have Jeremy join us last week to serve affogatos made with a beautiful decaf cold brew. Each of his roasts is distinctive, and inspired by literature from the packaging to the experience of sipping a cup. Jeremy pairs each Edition with a Memory Note — a short story evoked by the flavors and experience of sipping that roast. During the evening he shared through a reading of the Memory Note associated with his Finca el Rosal, reproduced with permission for your reading pleasure below.

Be sure to follow Preface Coffee on Instagram. Jeremy just announced a partnership with Penguin (the inspiration behind his package design). He's offering one of Penguin's Little Black Classics with every order until they run out — truly a perfect literary pairing for your morning cup of coffee!

Along the north and south coasts of South Africa, summer heat leeches under the skin like butter melting in a pan. Being of the sub-tropical type, the climate is different to the more postcard-ready beauty of Cape Town with its winter rains and dry summers. This kind of heat sits, seeps, swelters.

On such an afternoon, the day’s thunderstorm slowly gathering strength in the distance, a woman lies in the shade of a late-to-bloom jacaranda tree, strains of Strawberry Swing reaching her from the veranda. All the couches were dragged into the garden for what an American would call a barbecue, and what the woman would call a braai. The guests are gone, only their crumpled napkins and sticky beer bottles remain.

Contemplating the swelling belly currently blocking the view of her pedicure, the woman – let’s call her Frances – wonders at the characteristics of her incoming baby. Spooning raspberry sorbet into her mouth, Frances returns to her favorite and most fervent silent prayer: let her be more sedate than her brother. A jacaranda flower sinks through the air and onto her dress before tumbling down her side. I’ll take that as a yes, she thinks.

These last days of the summer holiday stretch like dogs on the kitchen floor. Soon, this house and its seemingly endless supply of beach towels will be locked up and left until Easter. Frances sighs and heaves herself off the couch at the first growl of thunder and rustling breeze. There are figs in the fridge, and she and the baby have an ongoing arrangement about them: one for you, two for me.

The Uno Table was rocking thanks to Roni from Otherwell. Folks played for a chance to win a copy of Max's Picnic Book, a Chef'n Pastrio bench scraper set, or an Areaware Little Puzzle Thing S'More puzzle. Congratulations to our winners: Isabella, Ashley, and Keragan!

And while presentations fall closer to nightmare on the scale of fun for me, Roni has been changing my mind with her non-serious 5 min. presentations at The Other Hour alternative happy hour events at Fabrik. She brought that spirit to our Picnic, MC-ing presentations from each of our partners that included behind the scenes peeks into each brand, stories, aesthetics, pie charts and metaphores, and the reading mentioned above.

For my part in the presentations, An Incomplete History of the World According to Pie was far from a comprehensive (or particularly serious) overview of the history of pie. If you’re interested in learning more, here are a few of my favorite resources and fun takeaways from the bit of research I did to prep.

• Pies are ancient, and made for picnics! The oldest known references are from ancient Mesopotamia (on stone recipe tablets) and Egypt where they were made for portability and preservation to be eaten by travelers and workers in the field.

• Pie crust served many purposes, and was not always meant to be eaten. It was a container, a means of preservation, a baking vessel, and a means of presentation over the centuries. Consider it a picnic basket or Tupperware in the days before refrigeration.

• Pies spread from ancient Egypt and the Middle East throughout Europe… and then the world. The evolution of pie, who it was made for, and what it contains is closely intertwined with European (and later American) History, trade, colonization, agriculture and slavery. In various forms, it was everyday food for the masses and entertainment for court.

• The popularity and history of pie is at the root of many common phrases:

  • Easy as pie - refers to choosing to have pie, not the process of making pie

  • Upper crust - initially referred to the top crust of pie or bread

  • A piece of the pie - used as an idiom in economics starting in the 1920s

  • To eat humble pie - comes from umble pie (made of animal entrails and undesirable parts) being food for the poor

  • As American as apple pie - apple pie is a European invention that became incredibly popular among American colonists and in the US

At each gathering, we include a writing prompt or exercise as a way to digest the evening. During the Pie Picnic, we expanded the concept to create a Reading and Writing room to act as a place where folks could take a break from the evening and soak in some of the nostalgia of Summers past. If you didn’t have a moment to stop by during the Pie Picnic, download a copy of our writing exercise to prompt your letter-writing practice.

Fabrik
Thanks to Fabrik for hosting us!

Thinking about becoming a member? Use Code FROMTHETABLE at check-out to save $49 on your 1st month of Fabrik membership.

Michelle Aboodi, Co-Founder of ​CoSee
Thanks, Michelle, for hosting our Summer Reading Book Swap!

The remaining books from our book swap are being donated to the Fabrik community to kickstart a Fabrik member library with books open to check out or trade with other Fabrik members! Stay tuned to Fabrik channels as the initiative is rolled out.

​Roni Bradley, Founder of Otherwell
Thanks, Roni, for injecting our Pie Picnic with Otherwell playfulness through the Uno and Connect Four Game Tables, Other Hour-style presentations, and for the beautiful wines you selected and contributed to the evening with your partners at Grand Cru Selections!

Be sure to follow Otherwell on Instagram and Substack to hear about Roni's future events.

Allison Mendoza and Laura Garcia, Co-Founders of The Art of Fashion and Food
Thank you, Ali, Laura, Adriana, and Moon for setting the gorgeous, evocative scene for our picnic! Be sure to follow them on Instagram to see more behind the scenes and hear about upcoming events.

​Jeremy Bradford, Founder of Preface Coffee
Thank you, Jeremy, for sharing your gorgeous coffee with us through cold brew affogatos and reading the story associated with the Finca el Rosal you served.

And be sure to follow Preface Coffee on Instagram. Jeremy just announced a partnership with Penguin. He's offering one of Penguin's Little Black Classics with every order until they run out — truly a perfect literary pairing for your morning cup of coffee!​

St. Buena Vida
Thanks to Lawrence at St. Buena Vida for the lovely bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling wine! And thanks to Sam at Third Place Bar for introducing us!

Follow St. Buena Vida on Instagram and order their non-alcoholic sparkling white wine directly from their website. It’s a beautiful sip for embracing The Good Life!