Stolle, which first opened as a restaurant in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2002, is hoping that Americans fall in love with their Eastern European version of pie.
Located in the Falchi Building in Long Island City, the bakery signed a 10-year lease in March to set up in a 2,175-square-foot space that also includes a production room. According to Irina Belska, co-owner of the company bringing the Stolle brand to America, each pie is handmade and the bakery never sells pies made the day before.
“It’s totally different from the pies America knows,” Belska said. “We use all fresh ingredients, no preservatives.”
Patrons will have a wide variety of savory pie fillings to choose from, including cabbage, scallion, potato with mushroom, salmon, chicken and rabbit. Sweet pie fillings include strawberry, raspberry, plum and apricot. Stolle bakery sells both whole pies and pies by the slice.
Belska said her company, Bakery Group LLC, chose this location primarily because they had a good relationship with Jamestown LP, the owner of the Falchi building. The company offered a fair price in a good location, she said.
“When we entered into the new market, it’s very important to have a good working relationship with the landlord because it’s a long relationship,” Belska said.
Belska likened the pies to “grandma’s home cooking” and said people looking to watch their figure should not worry about consuming these pies as they are made with fresh, natural ingredients. The pie connoisseur said she eats a pie every day and people would be “shocked” to see how slim she is.
Though the bakery had a soft opening on Aug. 17, they celebrated the grand opening Wednesday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and sampling of their offerings. Belska said she is eager for people to try these pies and marvel at their beauty.
“We bake with love each day, fresh and no preservatives and all natural,” Belska said. “All this beauty is done by hand and when you will see it in real life, it’s like in a picture.”
