In honor of this Thursday’s Pi Day and our upcoming performances of Broadway’s Waitress, we’re partnering with Table Talk Pies for a “name that pie” contest. Plus, visit the Table Talk store on March 14 and tag #HanoverTheatre in your social media photos for your chance to win free tickets to opening night of Waitress. Read on to learn more about Table Talk Pies from research and development manager Jeff Warren.

Lisa: We have a great partnership with Table Talk Pies and the upcoming production of Waitress. For those of you not familiar with the story behind Waitress, there is a pie contest. We’ve been fortunate to be working with the great people at Table Talk. Table Talk Pies has been a great institution in Worcester, and, Jeff, you’ve been with the company for many years.

Jeff: I started with Table Talk back in 1999. My first day, they had me watching the pies. After that, I moved into making dough. One batch of dough makes 5,000 of the mini pies. Then I worked my way up to making filling. It always reminded me of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Big kettles of filling that held three to four thousand pounds. Lemon, blueberry, cherry. I worked my way up to production supervisor. Our lines run about 11,000 pies per hour now. We have three facilities, six lines just for the mini pies. Four to five million mini pies per week! After production, I started dabbling in research. I might mix some blueberry and lemon filling together, and that’s how it started. Now we have a lab at the main headquarters, and that’s where we came up with the cherry almond pie for Waitress.

Lisa: It’s so much fun to visit the Table Talk Pie store in Worcester. It’s amazing all the varieties of pies that you have.

Jeff: Plus we make a pie shake. Any flavor that you want, we’ll mix it up and you’ll get a milkshake out of it!

Lisa:What’s your favorite flavor?

Jeff: I would say Blueberry. I’m working on some new stuff, like a cookie dough pie. I’m into tasting that lately.

Lisa: It’s so close to the story behind Waitress, and really good food that tastes delicious.

Jeff: I’m able to talk to different groups and find the best ingredients. That’s what Table Talk is known for. Good quality. We try to use the best ingredients. There is a lot that goes into a pie. 

Lisa:I love that we’re able to partner with this great business here in Worcester. Pi day is coming up. Anything special happening?

Jeff: I was trying to make a mint chocolate pie for St. Patricks Day. You might see that on Pi Day.