Made on Cape Cod: Centerville Pie Co.

Speaking at the October meeting of the American Business Women’s Association, one of Centerville Pie Company’s owners, Kristin Broadley, expressed her amazement at how much her life has changed in the past two years.

When Broadley opened Centerville Pie with her friend Laurie Bowen on March 9, 2009, she had no idea if they would be successful let alone experience ten percent growth right away due to the national acclaim they have attained.

The pie shop gained local and national attention in August, 2009 when Broadley delivered two warm pies - chicken pot pie and peach pie - to the hotel where Oprah Winfrey, in town for Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s funeral, was staying.

“I thought the security guard would have a great meal,” Broadley said. But still she left the pies along with a note and her phone number.

Before she pulled in her driveway fifteen minutes later, Oprah was on the phone telling Broadley how much she liked the pies.

The story of Oprah and the pies was in the newspaper, and the next day the store was “wall to wall people. And they all wanted pies.”

“I never expected the impact this would have,” Broadley went on to say, “some people waited eight weeks for a pie.”

The affection for Bowen’s signature chicken pot pie was not a new phenomenon. Her friends and family had been requesting them for years.

Both Broadley and Bowen saw this demand as a business opportunity, and realized a shared long time dream of owning their own restaurant when they opened Centerville Pie Company.

Prior to opening Centerville Pie, native Cape Codder, Bowen had worked in the restaurant business for over 25 years. Whereas Broadley, who was trained as a chef at Johnson and Wales University, spent 16 years as a banker.

When Broadley told people she was leaving the banking world and a stable job in a down economy to open a small kitchen, people thought she was crazy. But, she said, “I was bored…..and done with banking.”

Each pie is made from a secret recipe and baked inside a light, flaky crust. The chicken pie is their most popular flavor, and is stuffed with over a pound of slow cooked, hand pulled chicken and their homemade gravy.

They also serve up shepherd’s pie, clam pie, French meat pie, braised beef pie, and barbeque pulled pork pie. Their dessert pies include peach, apple, blueberry, pecan, lemon meringue, banana cream, lemon cream, chocolate chip cookie, and coconut custard.

With the increased demand that came with being discovered by Oprah, they needed help. So, Broadley called Larry Thayer of Cape Abilities, a non-profit organization that supports people with disabilities on Cape Cod, to see about a partnership.

According to Broadley, Cape Abilities had a huge workforce to create the product and a large building in which to make the pies.

Currently, Centerville Pie makes most of their pies in the Cape Abilities location, and has grown their Cape Abilities workforce from five to forty. Broadley and Bowen show their support for Cape Abilities by donating a portion of their proceeds to the non-profit.

In retrospect, Broadley knows they could have handled the rapid expansion of their business differently, and there have been quite a few pitfalls along the way. It has been challenging, but she also says wouldn’t take back that fateful phone call from Oprah or the opportunities it has brought.

Gourmet gift basket distributor company, Harry & David added the pies to their offerings, and Centerville Pie Company sold 208,000 pies. When they went on the Home Shopping Network, they sold out their products within seven minutes. Soon they will be featured on the Food Network, and once again in O Magazine.

And after that, Broadley said with a laugh, “global domination.”

Pies are available at the Restaurant or Pie Shop, located at 1671 Falmouth Road in Centerville, MA. They are also taking Thanksgiving orders at the Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis.