Wanda's Pie in the Sky

Of all the restaurant recommendations I received for Toronto, I decided to try Wanda's Pie in the Sky first. (If you had a choice of going somewhere that was called Wanda's Pie in the Sky, wouldn't you choose to go there immediately, too?)

I knew they closed at 8:00 and was able to scoot out of the conference around 7:45. While on my way there, at the encouraging of Elissa F., I called Wanda's and told them I was on my way to their shop all the way from DC and kindly asked them to keep their doors open for an extra five minutes so I could get my pie fix. I am not sure if the story actually conveys in blog form but the moments leading up to my arrival at Wanda's were hectic but well worth it.

Wanda's is a pie heaven. The funky little shop is located in a VERY cool part of Toronto called Kensignton Market. Most things were closed by the time I got there (guess other crazy food bloggers from the states were busy calling shops in different neighborhoods persuading them to keep their doors open past closing time). Elissa and I decided on the chocolate peanut butter (as an homage to the Kramer's goober pie) and something cocoa nut. The folks behind the counter were very accommodating to our whirlwind pie acquisition.

We were in and out of Wanda's in about seven minutes. I managed to snap a good number of photos and chatted briefly with the cashier. Apparently, there used to be several Wanda's locations (imagine that!) but they recently decided to consolidate into one bakery and cafe which was the spot we visited. My biggest regret is that we didn't get to take home any of the delicious looking ruggelach prominently featured on the Wanda's website.

We ended up eating the pie several hours later with a pitcher of Alexander Keith's red amber ale at a bar called the Loose Moose. This was the site of the URJ Biennial 20s/30s happy hour. I consulted with Elissa and Rabbi X* and we decided it would only be sort of awkward to break open our pie slices in the bar...which we did and the other 20s and 30s happy hour participants were just a little jealous. I was highly amused while listening to Rabbi X explain to his former rabbinical school classmates why we were sitting in the middle of a bar with a pitcher of beer and two delicious slices of locally made pie ("Emily is a frequent conference goer and business traveler and she also loves pie....").


The chocolate peanut butter was the clear winner. The crust was flaky, chocolate ganache plentiful, and peanut butter mouse was strongly peanut buttery. The top of the pie was lined with toasted chopped peanuts, making the whole experience crunchy, toasty, sweet, and fantastic. I would highly recommend a trip to Wanda's and am grateful to their staff for keeping their doors open so I could meet my chocolate peanut butter pie soul mate north of the border.

And if you want to join me, I'll be back for the ruggelach around 4:00 today...See you at Wanda's!

*This story is true but one name has been changed to protect the identity of a pie/beer consuming spiritual leader.