The Power of Pie

He grew up in the area, in Havana, an even smaller town about ten miles down the road, but left to go to college at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, thinking he’d become a geologist. But Whatley learned quickly that classes and labs weren’t the places for him. He started working in bars and restaurants and found his calling in kitchens. He and his dad bought an existing Greensboro restaurant called Magnolia, and about two years into his cooking there, he made his “chef” title more official when he accepted a partial scholarship and attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. After graduation, he spent a few years as the executive sous chef of the Troutbeck Inn in New York. But when his brother died, Whatley came back to Alabama.

It was inspiring stuff, but it wasn’t sustainable. When Whatley and his wife Kelley (also a chef) stepped in as chefs and managers, they realized the place needed more than an expanded menu and someone to make it. “It had, and has, a broader mission—but it is a business that has to make money to keep doing the good work,” Whatley says. And now, it’s run like one. “They were making five pies a day,” he says. “We’ve already made seventy pies today.”

HERO board members saw the difference Whatley’s changes were making and decided to step back. “We turned a profit for the first time, and the board said, ‘We need to get out of this,’ and they turned it over to me and Kelley,” he says.

Pie Lab employees learn the basics, things like being punctual and being courteous with customers, but Whatley stresses the specific skills gained in a restaurant environment that are applicable everywhere. “There’s a sense of urgency in a kitchen. You have to get the job done and get it done right, in a way that pleases others,” he says. “In an open kitchen like ours, you also have to work neatly and keep things organized and clean.” Landon Hassell, 21, has learned all of this and more in his four years at Pie Lab. He started washing dishes and has moved up to manager. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve learned a lot about being responsible, being organized, and how to manage my time,” he says. “I’ve learned to cook, too.

Pie Lab is also an incubator for ideas, a spot where pie fuels conversations and connections. On any given day, the open, airy space warmed by reclaimed wood and exposed brick hosts grandmas, teens, and everyone in between. They chat, refill mugs with hot joe at the self-serve coffee station, ogle the pies in the glass case up front, or can be found already digging into the pie of their choice. “We are definitely a gathering place,” Whatley says. “We have community tables, so you don’t sit by yourself. Folks from all walks of life, all ages and races, come here to sit and talk and stay in touch with each other and what is going on in the town.”

Pie Lab regular Larry Burt agrees. He’s been in Greensboro most of his life and spends a half hour or so in Pie Lab three to four times a week. “The food and pie are great,” he says. “It’s a neat place to hang around, with people coming in from all over. But it’s really nice to see the young people there working.” Just having a job is a win. “Jobs are hard to come by here,” Burt says. But he’s also watched area teens grow up. “I’ve seen them come to Pie Lab in early high school and then leave to go be nurses, get into business, a few have gone to culinary school. By teaching them how to communicate and deal with the public, Pie Lab is preparing them for all kinds of futures.” And the restaurant is seen by many, like Burt, as a ray of sunshine spreading light and warmth. He slows down and adds emphasis when he says, echoing Whatley, “Pie Lab is a bright spot we need.”

Pie Lab’s initial success keeps expanding as Whatley works to make its pies more available outside of Greensboro. He’s currently taking about one hundred pies each weekend to the Market at Pepper Place in Birmingham and always sells out. You can get Pie Lab pies at other markets and shops around Alabama— in Tuscaloosa, Montevallo, Demopolis, and Selma, and he’s looking for a spot to sell them in Montgomery. “We make about 300 to 400 pies each week right now,” he says. In the three days leading up to Thanksgiving last year, he and his staff turned out almost 1,500 pies. Pie Lab also offers lunch: a mix of salads, sandwiches, soups, and savory pies, like an array of quiches that changes daily.

And while Whatley sees Pie Lab as more than pie, those numbers make it clear that the pie is still key. Flavor offerings change regularly; each day’s options are listed on a chalkboard behind the counter and range from classics like key lime, pecan, blackberry, and peanut butter to brown sugar buttermilk, chocolate espresso chess, and carrot cake pie, a treat Kelley came up with last spring. Whatley’s chocolate bourbon pecan pie is the best seller, and he jokes that he could probably get away with only serving it. “I mean it’s got chocolate and bourbon in it, so that’s pretty much all you need, right?”

No matter the filling or topping, the crust is the foundation that Pie Lab’s prosperity is built on. Buttery and tender but with a little bite in each whisper-thin layer, “It’s a major part of what makes our pies popular; Kelley and I came up with it, playing around with ingredients and techniques until we got it just right,” Whatley says. It’s a proven recipe that he won’t divulge, although he did offer a tip. “No matter what pie dough you’re using, the trick is to not overwork it. You’ve got to know when to let it be, or it will get tough.”

Whatley may use a light touch with pie dough, but he’s going heavy on his commitment to the future of his community. “This is God’s country here. It’s beautiful,” he says. “You get to know everyone, and it’s just a nice place to be and to raise kids. The main thing needed is more jobs.”