This 84-year-old Calif. institution is your delicious pit stop on the way to Big Sur

Distressed I’d need to (god forbid) accept choosing the berries and baking the pie myself, I frantically tried to entry the farm’s web site for higher instructions — however alas, I had no cell reception. I lastly resorted to the old school manner of doing issues: I requested a neighbor sitting peacefully on their entrance porch for instructions. 

I drove again down the highway I’d come on, made the following left, and finally, it regarded like I used to be on the proper path. A nostalgic-looking emblem of a cartoon farmer in overalls holding a pie greeted me adorably: this manner, Gizdich Ranch Pie Store and Deli. 

I parked within the gravel lot, then adopted the crowds in the direction of the country crimson steel constructing helpfully marked “pie store” with an arrow. Eventually, pie time was nigh. 

Croatian immigrant Vincent John Gizdich purchased the Watsonville ranch in 1937, and it has stayed within the household by way of a number of generations. It’s now run by his daughter-in-law Nita Gizdich and her two sons, Vince and Noah. Nita has lived in Watsonville her complete life and moved out to the ranch along with her late husband Vincent Gizdich Jr. in 1959. 

Nita was the one who first began baking pies on the farm within the Eighties. 

“I had a good friend up in San Francisco who had a pie store, and he or she used to come back have our olallieberries,” recalled Nita, referring to the tart blackberry hybrid their farm is understood for (they had been one of many first farms to develop the berry again in 1950). “She stated, ‘It is best to begin a pie store,’ and I stated, ‘I don’t prepare dinner. I don’t like cooking!’”

However the good friend satisfied her to learn to bake pies, and that’s the way it all started. 

She began out with simply two flavors, apple and olallieberry, which immediately are nonetheless the preferred flavors, however Gizdich Ranch now sells 17 totally different varieties, a few of that are seasonal, just like the strawberry rhubarb and the pumpkin. However regardless of the brand new flavors, the recipe hasn’t modified at all around the years.

“It’s an old-time recipe, it’s not a recipe you discover in a e book,” Nita stated. “The crust is my mom and my mother-in-law’s crust, an old school crust, a crust you don’t discover on pies immediately. And we do not put a variety of sugar within the pies as a result of … we wish you to style the fruit.”

There’s additionally extra than simply pie on the menu. Attempt their apple dumpling, a decadent ball of pastry filled with apple pie filling and drowning in caramel sauce, or their apple slush, a refreshingly icy drink for a scorching August day. 

Nita is now not baking the pies herself. As an alternative, she entrusts that job to a workers of 17, whereas she spends her time operating the ranch’s vintage store. However Gizdich Ranch’s desserts are nonetheless beloved by locals and out-of-towners alike. Individuals are keen to drive miles for them. 

“And I imply miles,” stated Nita. “They arrive from Fresno, the Yosemite space, they arrive a great distance … and a variety of instances they’ll purchase three or 4 pies.” 

However what precisely retains them coming again?

“It’s the flavour. … After they get the pie and lower into it, it’s all fruit, there’s no room so as to add any extra fruit to the pie,” stated Nita. “And that’s what they like. A heavy pie.”

As a Bay Space resident who has paid upward of $30 for a pie, Gizdich Ranch’s costs are additionally enticingly low. You’ll be able to nab a complete pie for a mere $14. Sufficient pie to final you per week for the worth of a single San Francisco cocktail? That’s a no brainer. 

However if you happen to go to Gizdich Ranch, don’t miss the prospect to (additionally) order a single slice of pie a la mode to take pleasure in of their charming barn-side picnic space, with lengthy wood tables shaded by bushes and an enormous crimson tractor for youngsters to climb on. You’ll be able to even make a meal out of it with one of many ranch’s deli sandwiches if you happen to’re so inclined. 

Strains into the pie store will be lengthy, however there’s a lot of memorabilia inside to maintain you occupied whilst you wait, from a classic range that appears about 84 years previous to framed glowing critiques of Nita’s pies. In the event you’re nervous about driving for hours solely to find your most well-liked pie taste is gone by the point you arrive, Nita recommends calling forward — however in my expertise exhibiting up within the early afternoon, it was simple sufficient to acquire precisely the flavour I needed with out reserving one (strawberry rhubarb, for the report).

As soon as the extra urgent issues (pie) are attended to, it’s value taking a second to wander by way of the expansive reward store within the huge crimson barn subsequent to the pie store. There, you’ll discover jars of jam, flats of strawberries surrounded by bales of hay and jugs of contemporary apple juice — on my go to, I noticed a pair lugging not less than 5 gallons of the stuff again to their automobile, so you already know it needs to be good. 

And if you happen to’re up for an even bigger enterprise, go decide some strawberries, too. However if you happen to desire to skip the guide labor and beeline straight for that wonderful pie, I gained’t blame you.