Pie Dreams do come true

In a large shopping center stands a little shop of dreams—Pie Dreams. The family-owned pie shop opened in 2023 and has made an impression on the community, which can be seen with the lines that have been known to form around the shop.

Owner and “piesmith,” Ricky Davis, is the man behind the dream, counter and kitchen of Pie Dreams. His Newark shop opened in 2023, but the journey there emerged from the need to explore a passion that had been shelved for years.

In 2015, while working a full-time corporate job, Davis had an ankle injury that restricted his mobility for months. During this time, a simple conversation with a friend and more time on Davis’ hands was the catalyst of creation.

“The holidays were coming and [a friend] was telling me how his brother makes pumpkin pie from scratch,” said Davis. “He set this thing in motion in my mind of ‘Huh, I never thought of making pie from scratch.’ Once that seed was planted I thought, ‘I really want to figure out how to do this.’”

Davis began a deep-dive into what makes a “good pie.” From learning what makes the best crust, what a filling consists of, how moisture interacts with ingredients and much more, he completed his first pumpkin pie from scratch and experienced a unique feeling of  accomplishment. “I had never done something so organically in my life,” said Davis.

He posted a photo of his creation to Facebook and began to receive a few requests from friends and family. Davis would make pies for others infrequently, but would continue to post them, especially when his “Lola” would ask for them.

In 2017’s holiday season, more requests came in than usual. “It was more than just one or two people, it was like 8…then 12 in a matter of an hour or so,” said Davis. “I was driving with my wife [Anne] and she said, ‘This happens every year, you always say no. Why don’t you just do it?’”

With her encouragement, Davis shared on social media that he would make around 12 pies for anyone interested. “By the time I closed the preordering we made 20 or 22 pies, because I just couldn’t say no,” he said.

When Thanksgiving Day rolled around, everyone arrived at Davis’ house to pick up their pies. For Davis, that was the best part.

“In that moment when people were standing outside of my door, more or less in a line, talking to each other, people who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years, they hadn’t seen each other in a couple years…I can remember how amazing it felt, the connection through food,” said Davis.

Still working full-time, Davis began making pies on his days off. In the summer of 2018, Shake Shack—known for partnering with local businesses around their locations—reached out to Davis to use his pies at the burger chain’s first Bay Area location in Palo Alto.

Since Davis was still only making pies for family and friends, he worried about working with such a large company. But, with the support of his brother and cousin, he saw the invitation from Shake Shack as the push he needed to make Pie Dreams an official business. After some nerves and paperwork, Davis accepted Shake Shack’s invitation to “be a small part” of their Bay Area launch, and even went on to help launch their Larkspur and San Mateo locations.

Once Pie Dreams became an LLC, Davis found a commercial kitchen in South Fremont where he could take on more orders. This got Davis to expand beyond just friend and family requests, while still keeping the home-pickup policy that brought people together.

In November 2019, Davis decided to quit his full-time job and give himself the chance to focus solely on Pie Dreams. That holiday season was a success as he took on hundreds of orders with the help of his wife, kids, and friends and family.

“The dividend there is that’s that many more people I was able to take care of. That many more people I was able to be part of their holiday, their gathering,” said Davis.

Davis began to look into spaces for a shop, but a few months into his search, the Covid pandemic hit. After the pie pause, Pie Dreams came back in October for another holiday season and Davis resumed his location search. With the help of a friend, he found a small shop in a city that he thought was perfect for the environment he was looking to create.

“When I think about working with a community, being part of a community, I just felt like Newark, which is still a bit of a smaller city, still has these threads of community that are unlike other cities,” said Davis.

After many renovations, the Pie Dreams storefront opened to the public on Pi Day, March 14, 2023. The family-run business expanded with the help of a handful of employees who keep the authenticity and handcrafted quality of each pie.

Pie Dreams’ menu has something for everyone. From a mixture of berry, nutty, classics to savory pies, Davis creates a unique experience for customers every season with a rotating menu of featured one-time flavors.

When creating new flavors, Davis ensures he is respectful to any culture he pulls from. In 2019, when Davis created a boba pie, he used boba from the Boba Guys, a local company which makes their boba in-house and created strawberry and matcha pies. On the savory side, he also came up with a mechado—Filipino beef stew—pie. The mechado pie uses a family recipe and was created with the help of Davis’ sister to ensure authenticity.

“I want to have moments where I’m creative, I’m having fun,” said David. “I’m blending ingredients in a different way, but I’m still honoring the tradition of pie.”

Pie Dreams is now preparing for the demand of the holiday season. Since each pie is made from scratch, the store’s preordering system helps the Dream team accommodate as many customers as possible. Thanksgiving preordering is open until Nov. 14, and Christmas preordering opens Dec. 1.

For the future, Davis wants to focus on making the shop a more comfortable place for customers to hang out.

“If people were to have gatherings here that would be really cool,” said Davis. “To come through, talk to your friends, meet up, get reacquainted, be on a blind date or something. There’s so much this place could be.”

As his original customers still come back for more pie after nearly 10 years, Davis continues to be grateful for the genuine love and support for his creations and being a small part of making someone’s community.

“That privilege, to this day, is not lost on me,” said Davis. “To have that little 10-inch seat at the table with everyone around, it’s why we do what we do.” 

Pie Dreams
5855 Jarvis Ave., suite D, Newark
Piedreamsco.com