Julian Pie Company

WHOSE APPLE PIE IS THE BEST?

Tough question, since several establishments make a decent apple pie. But I always buy mine from The Julian Pie Company, 2225 Main Street (619-765- 2449). They also have a pie factory in Santa Ysabel Now, but I prefer the charm of their Julian shop.

I've yet to buy a slice of Liz Smothers' pie that didn't possess a flaky crust and a nice proportion of apples to cinnamon and sugar. She varies the recipes slightly, based on how sweet or tart and juicy or dry that day's apple's are. Smother's sells three kinds of apple pie: traditional, which is a double-crust pie with just enough sugar for sweetness and just enough lemon juice to bring out the apples goodness; natural, which is a double-crust pie sweetened with cider instead of sugar: and a crumb-crust pie. She uses local apples as long as they are available.