Karen Pietsch’s Pie Time, our very first guest post for the Diamond’s series, couldn’t be more mouth watering. In imagining the neighborhood pie shop Karen’s created, I’m having olfactory hallucinations of the wafting smells of warm, buttery, flakey pie crusts filled with melting, juicy, tart cherries and cinnamon coated apples and roasted pot pie vegetables swimming in a roux of flavor. Ugh. Too good an idea not to get made for real. Karen came up with the concept, logo and put together this post and all of the images for the slide show. If you’re someone interested in this idea, I suggest you hit her up! kpietsch8@gmail.com

Hello! My name is Karen and I work as a paraprofessional librarian at the Abrahams Branch of the Omaha Public Library coordinating adult programs. I’m a newly emancipated former graduate student who, only eight weeks ago, emerged from the dark, screen-lit recesses of my house into the glorious Omaha humidity. Right now I’m working on some Omaha Reads events to go with our 2012 Omaha Reads selection, The Age of Innocence (we’re making personalized wooden wax seal stamps for envelopes, having a lawn party at the Joslyn Castle…it’s going to be great). When I’m not with my books I read blogs to an unhealthy degree, which is how I came upon Elle’s “Diamonds in the Rough” project. I was a big fan of Daily Grub, and when I saw her project on Fresh Juice I freaked. Real Estate + Community + Food! I, too, love to mull over these things while I drive through the old business districts in Omaha. Elle has curated these buildings and business ideas in a truly inspiring way.

I’ve been envisioning this empty corner retail space as a pie shop and café for a few years now. My project idea is mostly inspired by Mission Pie, the San Francisco pie shop on Mission St. featuring sweet and savory pie selections made from locally-harvested ingredients bought directly from farmers. Their emphasis is on community, and the result is a warm, friendly space to enjoy delicious seasonal pies that everyone in the neighborhood can be proud of. Community is a big deal in my line of work–the public library is all about connecting people to resources, ideas, and other people and organizations. I see this pie shop as a cozy and comfortable gathering place for the people in the surrounding neighborhoods, hospitals and businesses.

Project Idea: Pie Time

Location: 4203 Leavenworth St., Omaha, NE 68105

Inspiration: Mission Pie and The Pie Shop

Menu: A seasonally rotating cast of sweet and savory pies. Sweets: Spicy pear cranberry, vegan chocolate hazelnut, triple berry, pumpkin cream dream and anything else you can think of. Savories: Yellow curry vegetable pie, shepherd’s pie, pot pie, quiche Lorraine, potato-pear galette with thyme and anything else you can think of. Coffee and tea, too.

Vibe: Rustic, bustling, lots of light and chatter, people lingering long past their last plates.

Music: Bluegrass to wake you up in the morning and early afternoon, eclectic 70s and 80s rock and punk in the evenings.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.