There are those who don’t give pie a passing thought outside of the holiday season. For others like Corte Madera resident Stephen Timmons, pie is homemade goodness that delivers a whiff of nostalgia and a sweet slice of Americana all year long.
“Nothing is better than a good pie,” says the fervent baker behind Steve’s Pies. “It’s a blank canvas with which you can highlight really good local products and let them sing.”
Baking and delivering pies started out as a passion project during the holidays but has become an almost round-the-clock, one-man enterprise based in Timmons’ home kitchen.
Organic, 9-inch pies are made to order and ready to be dropped off at your doorstep every day of the week. It’s an endeavor that requires meticulous planning and preparation that includes frequent early morning shopping trips; preparing and freezing up to 50 pounds of pastry dough; tossing and mixing fillings; and balancing oven temperatures and bake times for up to 100 pies a week.
“I want to deliver an exceptional experience,” says Timmons about what’s been a mostly word-of-mouth marketing enterprise. “I am encouraged and blessed by the positive feedback and am feeling the love.”
Choose classic double-crusted apple or sweet and sour cherry; key lime with gingersnap graham cracker crust and whipped cream; roasted organic pumpkin with butterscotch and fresh spices; rich pecan with pure maple syrup and a touch of bourbon; or banoffee, a childhood favorite inspired by his mom’s recipe with toffee, bananas and a crown of whipped cream inside a Biscoff cookie crust.
Options are influenced by what’s at the farmers market, and with the bounty of the spring and summer season on the horizon, Timmons regularly ponders what’s next.
“I’ve lived all over the country, and this is the most magical place for produce,” he says.
If pie’s not your thing, the menu also includes brown butter dark and milk chocolate chunk cookies; snickerdoodles; toffee sauce; and 16-ounce containers of fresh vanilla bean whipped cream (but with that it would be nice to have a pie).
Timmons moved to Marin from San Francisco when he was in his early teens, and after graduating from Redwood High School, was a line cook at celebrity chef Michael Mina’s RN74 in San Francisco, which is now International Smoke. While attending culinary school at the Art Institutes, he continued with the Mina Group at Bourbon Steak Los Angeles and then went on to Alinea in Chicago. In 2018, he moved back to Marin and segued into catering.
“In general, nothing makes me happier in the world than making food for people or baking something for someone and the joy it brings to them and me,” he says.
That came to a gradual end in 2020 during the pandemic.
“After that, I did different jobs, but I’ve been yearning to scratch the creative itch,” he says.
Why pie?
“I was drawn to cooking and baking since I was little,” he reflects. “All I wanted to do was put on ‘The French Chef with Julia Child.’ I was enamored with her and Jacques Pépin and would get out a bowl and mimic them and have bake sales on the weekends outside my house.”
Pick your pie or other items and select a date (or order by 5 p.m. for the following day) for free delivery within Marin or $10 outside the county within a 20-mile radius. Pies are made and delivered daily. See the full menu, place orders and find answers to frequently asked questions at stevespies.shop.
Jennifer Luttrell, executive chef and culinary director of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. in Point Reyes Station, is in the kitchen at Homeward Bound of Marin’s first spring Fresh Starts Chef Event on March 21 in Novato. She’ll share tips about choosing, serving and cooking with artisan cheeses while the Fresh Starts Culinary Academy prepares a meal from her recipes.
Chef Cristina Topham, chef-owner of Spread Kitchen in Sonoma, makes seasonal dishes from her Lebanese heritage on April 25, and chef Stuart Brioza, founder of State Bird Provisions, the Progress and the Anchovy Bar in San Francisco, shares how he draws inspiration from regional abundance and incorporates wild foods like seaweed and mushrooms into his cooking on May 15.
Dinners are held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Key Room at 1385 North Hamilton Parkway in Novato. View the full calendar of chef events and purchase individual or table dinner tickets ($100 for one up to $800 for a table of eight) at thekeyroom.com/chef-events or call 415-382-3363, extension 243. Proceeds support shelter, housing and job-training programs at Homeward Bound of Marin.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer and restaurant columnist. Email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com with news and recommendations and follow on Instagram @therealdealmarin for more on local food and updates on the launch of The Real Deal Marin restaurant search guide.
