The humble pie is a Kiwi staple – although a new non-fiction book is celebrating some as a little less humble than others.
The pastry delights at Riwaka’s Little Dynamite Café have been highlighted as some of the country’s best, in the newly-released book entitled “New Zealand’s Best Gourmet Pies”.
Little Dynamite is small on square-footage but big on flavours, according to the book’s author, Derek Morrison.
The business’s owner, Leanne Young, says she had “heard through the grapevine to come here”.
Her café is stop number 17 on the author’s north-to-south pie exploration journey, just before Wakefield’s Wakey Bakey and after the Janus Bakkerij in Lower Hutt.
Its six-page spread tells the history of the business, which began life as Ginger Dynamite about 10 years ago.
Leanne moved to the area in 2019 and took over the ownership as the country was emerging from the initial shock of Covid lockdowns.
She traded in the Ginger part of the name, as outgoing owner Brad Dalton was taking his red hair with him, but kept the Dynamite, which matches her personality.
The pies – only six varieties – are hand-crafted with their distinctive twisted seam around their pastry bases, and Leanne won’t insult any by singling out one as the most popular flavour.
“They all sell, aye!” she laughs.
The book is available to buy at the café, and Leanne calls it a “great pressie idea for all avid pie lovers”.
