Ernest East, Maker of Miniature, Rib-Sticking Pies

Name: Ernest East

Age: “50-ish”

Occupation: Founder of Miz Lynn’s Pies, a small business that specializes in the manufacturing of small pies

Is that sweet potato pie grandmother’s recipe? Yes, grandmother’s recipe. Without the lard and all that sort of thing – we use butter. The lemon chess pie is from my mother’s side of the family, which is also a Southern tradition.

How did you get into this? We were doing cakes and cookies, and my cousin — she had a big dinner and a party at the house with sweet potato pie — and I said, “Oh my god, this is bringing back all these memories we used to have on Sundays.” We didn’t have to wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas to have a good sweet potato pie dessert, and I thought, “I can market this; I need to share this with the world.”

In 2001, right after 9/11, is when I really started doing the sweet potato pie, because Willie Brown was the mayor of San Francisco at the time. He heard about us and took some samples down to the city hall. He loved it and shared it with all his staff. Next thing I knew we had a big order for his birthday.

And there was one time where he put in an order and it was like the fourth of July. We had to go down to Embarcadero and we were supposed to have the pies at the Maritime Museum at a certain time. And we weren’t able to be there at that time. His secretary called and said, “Where are the pies?” And I said, “Well, the baker hasn’t come in,” because my cousin (the baker) didn’t show up.

I waited and I watched, and after she called and said, “You’ve got to have those pies here,” I said, “Well, the Embarcadero is full of traffic,” and she said “We’ll get you an escort.” You know those little meter maids – they gave us a big escort all through the Embarcadero, and we got there pretty much on time. The rest is history.

And you vend at and elsewhere? Kensington and mostly San Francisco and the Southern Peninsula, San Francisco State, and a couple of others.

San Francisco State? Oh yes. It’s a big hit with the students – a little snack in between classes and a little energy to pump them up for the afternoon.

What do you do for fun besides bake pies? I sing jazz at the Dogpatch Saloon on Sunday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. I sing mostly ballads — (sings) “The very thought of you makes my heart sing like an April breeze on the wings of spring.”