"Pie Lady" gets retail storefront downtown on Orange St.

Last year's feature-film shoot "Main Street" showed a moribund Bull City of a decade past, with a hankering for a long-shot toxic waste scheme, set among vacant downtown storefronts -- along with some businesses faux-created inside other downtown pads.

One of those pads, at 111 Orange St. on the downtown mall, became a make-believe restaurant where Orlando Bloom dined in one scene from the release-date-unknown film.

With a range of new businesses opening downtown since the movie's wrap, at the rate things are going, many of those once-empty storefronts are on the road to being nicely filled by new entrants.

And add 111 Orange St. to that list. Bloom's (to some) bewitching beefcake presence at Orange St. may have been a passing moment -- but there'll soon be some meat pies in his place.

Phoebe Lawless, the popular "pie lady" of local repute and a fixture of late at the Durham Farmers Market, is leasing 1,200 sq. ft. of space in the building for her Scratch Seasonal Artisan Baking operations, the Herald-Sun has reported.

Formerly a branch outpost of Durham's Branch Gallery, the Orange St. space will serve both as a production kitchen -- replacing a rented catering kitchen, which in turn replaced her own home -- and a retail operation.

Look for cakes, pies, cookies and more, along with Counter Culture Coffee and lunch items. Indoor and pedestrian-mall seating will both be available.

I first learned of Lawless' work back in '07, when Mrs. BCR was interning for a company in downtown Raleigh over the summer. On a regular basis, one of the partners there would round up much of the firm and bring 'em on down to Moore Square to pick up pies and baked goods, a regular cavalcade of taste streaming down to pick up these famous goods.

Goods that were, mind you, prepared by a Durhamite who carted them all the way over to the City of Oaks to sell them.

At the time, it seems, the Durham Farmers Market was full-up on bakers and didn't have room to accept another one.

But Lawless found entry to the market, and her goods -- which range from sweet products to her well-known savory meat pies -- found a Bull City home at last.

Lawless told me back in 2007 that she was hesitant to allow other outlets to sell her products, to have some other business "speaking for me and for what I make."

Now at Orange Street, it looks like Lawless will be able to speak for herself.

Or should I say, to allow the baked goods to speak for themselves.

Comments

[Ross Grady]

So Kevin, can you sleuth out whether there's any truth to the rumor that she won't just have Counter Culture Coffee, but will in fact have an espresso machine? I'd *kill* for another/better source of espresso on the east side of downtown.

[Jonn]

i had a spicey-potato something pie from her booth at the market one time..it was wondeful.

[Oh Snap! Durham]

I'm so excited for this. Love their stuff, from their bread to their savories and sweets. Also great news to hear of more storefronts coming to life downtown.

[Erik Landfried]

This is fantastic news! I hope others follow her lead and make the Orange St pedestrian mall a dining destination!

[209]

Great news!!!

[TSQ75]

Ross: Beyyu not doing it for you? I'm actually not a fan of the taste of CC coffee, unfortunately.

[Chris]

Oh, if only that silly parking lot and the terrible Chapel Hill St. Garage would finally meet their demise ....

[Ross Grady]

@TSQ75: Beyu's espresso is about on par with their food, which is to say spotty, and overall kinda meh. Last time I went in there for espresso it was served to me, inexplicably, in a full-size coffee cup, meaning it hit room-temp roughly 20 seconds after being pulled. Not a big fan.

Best espresso in the downtown-Durham area is at Parker & Otis, but I don't live next door to P&O anymore. Working at home is so much better when you can walk down the street for coffee without it becoming a big production.

There's always Rue Cler, but they need to send their baristas back to school. The potential is there, but the execution is decidedly hit-and-miss. Thankfully the bread is so drop-dead awesome that it outweighs any/all negatives in other areas.

[phoebe]

rumors are true, Ross: there will indeed be espresso at Scratch.

[Natalie]

I've never had bad espresso at Rue Cler, but then I'm generally there pre 8:30am.

Blue Coffee Company is not so bad for espresso + milk drinks.

[Chuck]

Ross, I have to disagree about Beyu's food and expresso. Let me suggest that one experience may not be enough to make a good judgement. Let me go on the record and say that I have enjoyed the food, the coffee, & the pastries. Of course, I look forward to the Pie Lady's shop too especially on the alley known as Orange Street.

[Andrea Hundredmark]

Read a little further in the article and you find that Trips For Kids - Triangle is moving Grassroots Bikes into Mangum 506!

[Ross Grady]

@Chuck I ate at Beyu more than once. It's cool that they have Dogfish beers on tap, and I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of that fact often enough. Cheers!

@Phoebe Espresso & homemade pigs-in-blankets is some kind of unholy perfect combination. I can't wait.

[Jonn]

Has anyone been to that record store in Mangum 506? I haven't heard anything about it.

[TSQ75]

Jonn: rXr CDs has been around since at least 2005 in a few different locations. Melissa started her Durham endeavor at the departed 305 South Anti-Mall, then moved over to a Storefront next to Blue Coffee on Parrish. Now she's in 506 Mangum.

She deals mostly in used CDs, and some books, i believe. She had previously been very adamant about being able to get you any used CD or book if you gave her a few days to get it in.

[Ross Grady]

@Jonn Melissa has a focused selection of DVDs & CDs, as well as her awesome bottle-cap magnets/jewelry. The CD/DVD selection is geared primarily towards the goth/fantasy/sci-fi/horror/industrial end of things. She does a lot of business thru eBay so you can get an idea of the selection there: http://stores.ebay.com/alternativeXchange

She's super-cool & I'm happy to have her as a downstairs neighbor (and I'm also psyched about Grassroots Bikes).

[alternativeXchange]

Thanks for the pimping TSQ75 and Ross! rXrCDs has evolved into alternativeXchange. All CDs & DVDs in the Durham store are priced at $7.00 each or less with the higher end inventory available through our Ebay store. The inventory is focused on the "alternative" including for CDs: new wave, goth, industrial, 80s, electro, and a large selection of soundtracks and movie scores thrown in for good measure. Most of the DVDs are horror, sci-fi, fantasy, thriller, action or anime.

We do love a challenge though and quite often will try to find any item for you even if it doesn't fit within the mentioned genres.

Store hours are WED - SAT from 11AM to 5PM so feel free to stop in and say hi!

We are very stoked about our new neighbor and looking forward to a few more as there are still 2 commercial units in 506 Mangum available.