They came, they cooked, they conquered. 7,500 people. 500 pies. After a three-year IRL hiatus, the people turned out for the 2023 Good Food PieFest & Contest. And when we say they turned out, we mean they turned out. The pent-up pie energy was real. There are worse ways to spend a pandemic than perfecting your pie-baking technique.
As several judges noted, this year's Pie Contest was exceptionally tough to adjudicate because the overall quality of the pies was so high. Competition in the Apple, Fruit, and Kids categories was especially fierce. In our book, every pie is a winner (it just needs someone to love it), but here are the actual winners of KCRW's 2023 PieFest. Eat your hearts out, pie people!
Best In Show
Marionberry Huckleberry Merlot (#9) — Michael Biggie
Best Crust
Pistachio Cream Pie (#346) — Scott Blindauer
Prettiest Pie
Lemon Cream Meringue (#476) — Virginie Strub
Virginie Strub's Lemon Cream Meringue pie was voted Prettiest Pie. Photo by Ian Kose
Apple
1. Apple Pie (#275) — Kimberly State
2. Wafu Apple (#161) — Sonoko Sakai
3. Dulce de Leche Apple Pie (#146) — Injae Kim
Kimberly State took home top honors in the hotly contested Apple Pie category. Photo by Ian Kose
Cooked Custard
1. Pono Pie (#409) — Julia Tauscher
2. Double Lemon with Swiss Meringue Pie (#372) — Andy Hoff
3. Salted & Malted Milk Pie (#398) — Larissa Pullen
Julia Tauscher's Pono Pie won 1st place in the Cooke Custard category. Photo by Ian Kose
Cream
1. Mississippi Mud Pie (#472) — Sirinda Sincharoen
2. Beachwood Bananas Foster Pie (#421) — Allison Brooker
3. Banana Dream Pie (#439) — Dave Holstein
Sirinda Sincharoen's Mississippi Mud Pie won the Cream category. Photo by Ian Kose
Fruit
1. Marionberry Huckleberry Merlot (#9) — Michael Biggie
2. Cherry Plum Zinfandel (#30) — Tracy DeVore
3. Four Berry Pie (#103) — Eddie Vona
Michael Biggie's Marionberry Huckleberry Merlot Pie not only won the Fruit Pie category, it won Best In Show. Photo by Ian Kose
Kids
1. Blueberry Pie (#492) — Oliver Kaplan
2. Apple Love (#490) — Calvin George
3. Ube Pie (#501) — Mirra Storc
The three winning pie-makers in the Kids category (L to R) — Oliver Kaplan, Calving George and Myra Storc — receive their prizes from host Evan Kleiman and judges Christine Moore and Clémence de Lutz. Photo by Larry Hirshowitz
Lineage
1. Sukiyaki Pie (#333) — Yuichiro Suzuki
2. Gjetost Cream Pie (#297) — Sarah Cho
3. Hoosier Ajumma (#298) — Claudia Choi
Yuichiro Suzuki's Sukiyaki Pie was the top Lineage Pie, a category that asked contestants to use globally-inspired flavors and their heritage to create a pie that tells a personal story. Photo by Ian Kose
Nut
1. Maple Pecan (#186) — Emily Deasy
2. Bulleit Bourbon Pecan Pie (#199) — Victoria Rodriguez
3. Pecan Pie with Dates & Pomegranate (#197) — Thomas Proctor
The Top Nut Pie was Emily Deasy's Maple Pecan Pie. Photo by Ian Kose
Savory
1. Sweet Potato Black Bean Pork with Chipotle (#257) — Annette Eason
2. Chicken Pot Pie (#256) — Rima Dib
3. The Black Lamba (#243) — Joe Abousakher
Annette Eason won the Savory Pie category with her perfectly seasoned Sweet Potato Black Bean Pork with Chipotle Pie. Photo by Ian Kose
Vegan
1. Passion Fruit Cream Pie (#222) — Jodie Kautzmann
2. Mexican Hot Chocolate Pudding Pie (#240) — Rebecca Waer
3. Picadillo Hand Pie (#212) — Deborah Dawson
Jodie Kautzmann's Passion Fruit Cream was the best Vegan Pie. Photo by Ian Kose
Thank you to everyone who sacrificed their time and their waistlines to judge this year's pie contest:
- Amy Taylor — The Pie Room by Gwen
- Ben Mims — cooking columnist - Los Angeles Times
- Bertha Mason — Baking With Bertha
- Brianna Abrams — Winston Pies
- Christine Moore — Little Flower Candy Co.
- Clémence de Lutz — The Gourmandise School
- Danielle Bell — de Porres
- Gustavo Arellano — Los Angeles Times, KCRW
- Hannah Ziskin — House of Gluten, Quarter Sheets
- Heather Platt — journalist
- Jennifer Yee — Baker's Bench
- Justine Hernandez — Just What I Kneaded
- Karen Tongson — professor - USC
- Kristin Trattner and Monica May — Nickel Diner
- Lien Ta — All Day Baby, Here's Looking At You
- Mona Holmes — journalist - Eater L.A.
- Robert Wemischner — pastry instructor - LA Trade-Technical College
- Sang Yoon — Father's Office
- Shannon Swindle — pastry chef - Funke, Mother Wolf, Felix
- Sherry Yard — Bakery by Yard
- Stacy Michelson — artist
- Stephanie Breijo — journalist - Los Angeles Times
- Tejal Rao — critic at large - New York Times
- Valerie Gordon — Valerie Confections
- Zack Hall — Clark Street Bread
- Zen Ong — Awan
The judges for KCRW's 2023 PieFest & Contest pose after a long day of pie-eating. Photo by Elina Shatkin/KCRW