In last week's column, we described our adventures at Grilled Cheese & Co, but, as any foodie knows, a meal is not complete without dessert. Following our cheesy dinner, we immediately whipped out our iPhones and summoned Siri to find the sweets we were searching for. Ironically, she kept pointing us to the direction of 1036 Light Street, which was the address of Grilled Cheese & Co.
After considering the possibility of being in the Twilight Zone, we spoke with the men behind the counter, who told us that their location used to be a pie place by the name of Dangerously Delicious Pies. Dangerously Delicious Pies moved to a bigger location in Fells Point, which, according to our Maps, was only 11 minutes away.
A $20 dollar cab ride later, we pulled up to the corner location and were greeted by a large image of a pie and crossbones and a red hue that came from the inside of the bakery. We took a step in and walked up to the counter.
There were about 15 pies behind the glass, each of which looked very authentic. We befriended the man behind the counter, who was extremely friendly and gave us the inside scoop (or filling?) on pie-making. They have sweet and savory pies and quiche that are homemade every day.
His most popular sweet pies are the Baltimore Bomb pie, the Mixed Berry pie and the Apple Crumb pie. If you're from Baltimore, you will most likely be familiar with the inner workings of the Baltimore Bomb. Being New Yorkers, we were not.
The Baltimore Bomb features a local cookie called a Berger Cookie, or a shortbread cookie with chocolate (kind of like a black and white, hold the white). Before tasting the Baltimore Bomb, we were given a regular Berger cookie to try so that we could compare the two. After our first bites of the cookie, we could hardly wait to taste the Bomb.
In addition to the Bomb, we chose to try the Mixed Berry pie, which was filled with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Because each sweet pie slice is $6 (a savory slice is $7), we limited ourselves to two piece. We got our two pie boxes and made our way to one of the tables. Once we sat down, we could fully take in the atmosphere of Dangerously Delicious Pies. The tinted red lights, the pictures of insects on the wall (which are for sale, in case you were wondering) and the reggae music in the background definitely made for a more interesting environment than our former restaurant location.
There were only two other tables occupied, both of which we believe had a similar intention as us and were simply craving some post dinner pie. The set up of the restaurant has a lot of tables but also includes a stool/bar option, perhaps for those who don't have time to lounge around and just need a quick pie fix.
We opened our boxes and dug into our three pie slices (yes three slices were discovered in our boxes as opposed to the two that we purchased). We immediately broke off a piece from the crust of the Mixed Berry pie before even trying the berries.
The crust was flaky but not chalky to taste, sugarcoated and had a star shaped cut out on the top; it was absolutely perfect. The berries that made up the filling were very small, intact, fresh and barely seasoned with anything. Because the pies we are accustomed to are not as authentic and fresh as those of Dangerously Delicious, we expected a much sweeter flavor in the mixed berry filling. Surprised, but far from disappointed, we kept eating the mixed berry and liked it more with each bite. The sugar on the crust was a really nice complement to the less sweet inside of the pie. We could definitely tell that if berries were actually in season in February, our minds would have been blown.
The Baltimore Bomb pie had a completely a different taste. The dough was a little bit more substantial and less sweet. It was the perfect compliment to the vanilla chess (chess, a term used frequently at Dangerously Delicious, is a sugary dessert characteristic of southern U.S. cuisine) and Berger cookies. The vanilla chess was very similar to sweet vanilla custard. The texture of the custard nicely contrasted with the crumbly cookies randomly assorted throughout the pie's middle. This pie is a Baltimore classic, and we highly recommend it to those who have a very large sweet tooth but don't like to be overwhelmed by the taste of chocolate.
Dangerously Delicious is the perfect place for those looking for late night sweets (they too are open until 2:30 a.m. on Saturday nights). Throughout our dessert, we noticed people coming in and out of the restaurant to pick up whole pies. These pies would also make great housewarming gifts. As Rodney "The Pieman" Henry, the rock n' roll obsessed founder of Dangerously Delicious Pies, says about the Mixed Berry: "Bust this pie out at a party or take it to your girl's folks place and make a great impression. It worked for me!"
Dangerously Delicious pies might have dangerously dented our wallets, but we have no regrets — the pie slices were generous and beyond satisfying, and the atmosphere kept us entertained.
