Pie in the Heights

It wasn't in red on our calendar, but apparently January 23 was National Pie
Day.

Joanna Torok and Joe Phillips, co-owners of a new mobile eatery called Oh My! Pocket Pies, weren't about to miss out.

The two-month-old business takes the form of a truck, typically parked in Kim Hung Mall parking lot (1005 St. Emmanuel St.) weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Last Saturday, however, the pair pulled into a vacant lot in the 300 block of 19th Street in the Heights and soon had a line down the sidewalk.

Their mini-festival -- which also included local vibraphonist Harry Sheppard, House of Pies, Katz Coffee, Dacapo's Pastry Café and Gallery M Squared -- featured a pie-eating contest, which we taped for your amusement.

Ben Scriber, who finished the top crust and all of the apple filling first, was the winner. Lucrece Borrego and Mike Sinclair also participated. We didn't sample the Salisbury steak, chicken chile relleno or twice-baked potato pies, nor the s'mores or fruit and cheese dessert pies, but Torok did tell us the ingredients are predominantly sourced from within 100 miles of Houston and are combined into dough and filling each night before the next day's sales.