Carolina Pie Company serves more than pastry perfection

Serves More Than Pastry Perfection Carolina Pie Company

BY » Karel Bond Lucander PHOTOGRAPHY BY » Lisa Crates

Steve Lindberg and family find more than joy in baking

You know a company is something special when Southern Living comes calling. The magazine recently featured Mooresville’s Carolina Pie Company in their roundup of “The South’s Best Pies.” Listed as North Carolina’s top pick, owner Steve Lindberg handcrafts his crusts from scratch and fills them the old-fashioned way, producing delicious results.

“I love pies, I love making pies, but I’m not a factory,” he says. “We don’t make 100 pies; we make one pie 100 times.”

Barb and Steve Lindberg.

In 2011, Carolina Pie Company began, and in 2014 relocated to 136 Stutts Road. Since then, that’s where Lindberg, 66, along with Barb, daughter Melanie Barker, teenage grandkids and a small team of bakers make pie magic.

For Lindberg, Carolina Pie Company is a calling and allows him to connect with the community.

“I love meeting people

A third-generation baker, Lindberg’s grandfather owned two bakeries in Massachusetts and his father managed the second one. But before founding Carolina Pie Company with his wife, Barb, Lindberg spent decades as chief financial officer (CFO) of a multinational manufacturer. When their corporate offices relocated from Boston to Hickory, he moved his family to Mooresville.

In 2008, he left his position to begin consulting, but the Great Recession hit, and business slowed. Lindberg began toying with opening a pie shop but had an opportunity to work with Mom N Pop’s Country Ham in Catawba County. The night before he was to start there, a tornado blew the roof off of the facility. “That was a strong statement that we were supposed to commit to pies,” he says. and hearing their stories,” he says. “This place is a little bit of a fulfillment of a personal ministry. We try to deliver sunshine with our pies; a pie and a prayer.”

Put This in Your Pie Hole!

One of his regulars, former Nascar driver Derrike Cope, has featured the Carolina Pie Company logo on his race car. Now managing a race team, he continues to support CPC. Steve Lindberg is a third-generation baker. His grandfather owned two bakeries in Massachusetts and his father managed the second one.

A pick-up-only shop, Carolina Pie will deliver nearby and is also locally served at Joe Fish Casual Seafood restaurant and Killington’s Restaurant & Pub. Popular for weddings, birthdays and corporate meetings, once customers taste Lindberg’s pies, they usually come back for more.

Carolina Pie Company offers more than 30 flavors, including Red Tart Cherry (pictured in Southern Living), Wild Maine Blueberry and Key Lime. The shop’s most popular is Apple (three versions), and most requested is Bumbleberry, a signature four-berry creation. Some pies are seasonal, like Lindberg’s favorite, Strawberry Rhubarb. For holidays, place your order months ahead.