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Since taking over The Gathering Place, right, in January, Sarah Chavez has changed the name and is expanding the Homestead vintage and secondhand shop, left. She and her crew of pie bakers will now revive The Pie-O-Neer. (Courtesy of Sarah Chavez via El Defensor Chieftain)
When Kathy Knapp closed the Pie-O-Neer and put it up for sale in March 2020, the Catron County spot known as Pie Town was left with a single pie source: The Gatherin’ Place.
She hoped someone would buy the establishment and continue its storied legacy, but months went by without a serious offer.
Sarah Chavez in front of the Pie-O-Neer in Pie Town. (Courtesy of Kathy Knapp via El Defensor Chieftain)
2/23/2021 By Karen Fisher
New Mexico TRUE
How one pie shop is fighting to survive the pandemic.
When Sarah Joe Montana Chavez first visited Pie Town, New Mexico, on family vacations, three pie restaurants were open for business in the small high-desert town. The town’s love of pie was signified by the summertime Pie Town Pie Festival. Pie Town’s appeal was was based on curiosity from quirky travelers. “Folks look at a map and think, oh, Pie Town, let’s check that out and eat a pie in Pie Town,” says Montana Chavez.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic halted mass gatherings and the Pie Town Pie Festival had to be cancelled in 2020. Trepidation lingered for the three pie businesses on whether to open their doors, thanks to the unknown health factors of the virus. After the pandemic hit, two of the three pie shops in Pie Town shuttered, leaving one sole pie shop – the Gatherin’ Place – the last pie shop in Pie Town.