Can anybody get a slice of rhubarb pie in this town?

A couple weeks ago I went to Pies ‘n’  Thighs in Williamsburg, the fried chicken and pie establishment whose name also functions as a suitable porno title. The menu’s rhubarb pie option was my main reason for going, not only because I love the tangy fruit (a classification that Wikipedia just confirmed for me), but I suppose I’ve succumbed to the crimson deluge of rhubarb crisps, pies, and crumbles on food blogs lately.  The fried chicken platter I ordered for dinner, priced at a fair $11, consisted of 3 generous hunks of chicken (I believe I got 2 breasts and a thigh) and a side of cheese-and-tabasco-covered elbow noodles that encompassed half the plate. The chicken was a pleasant surprise — it was crisp and juicy (especially that fattier dark meat that I prefer), and infinitely more satisfying than the overpriced ($25!) fried chicken dinner at the lauded Blue Ribbon.

When it came time to order that desired slice of pie (ignore that statement’s inherent kinkiness), the server, who carried more heft in her hips than in her personality, told me that Pies ‘n’ Thighs had run clean out. I had to settle for a subpar piece of banana cream, whose too-shiny, too-yellow filling employed banana extract rather than fresh nanners.

I had a similar experience tonight at the Blue Stove, also in Williamsburg. I’d lived in the neighborhood for a solid 7 months but didn’t make the harrowing 10-minute walk there until after my move to Park Slope.  The space is about 1/4 bakery, 3/4 open, white-walled cafe with only a smattering of seats (and thus only a smattering of unrelenting laptop squatters). The chalkboard menu, that filthy liar, promised a tempting blackberry rhubarb pie that I later discovered was unavailable. I got the peach pie instead (blueberry and blackberry mousse were also up for grabs) and was much happier with my runner-up selection than I was at Pies ‘n’ Thighs. The peaches were fresh, not the saccharine canned variety, and the crust was bready and sturdy (could have been a little flakier). It even had a little sugar-dusted heart crafted into the top. I’ll definitely be returning to taste the red velvet cupcakes and (hopefully, someday) the rhubarb pies!