Cravings

Pie in the Pub

    Clive Hitchens was voted Chef of the Year in New Zealand in 1988. The owner-chef at the New Zealander has cooked for Prince Charles, the Queen Mum and Elton John. It is small wonder when he turns out what he calls his pub pies that they’re—well, if you’re a big fan of the music man, you could say the Elton John of pub pies.
    Most Americans, when they think of pie, think of a fruit filling. Hitchens’ pies, however, are mainly meat-filled—lamb, steak, mince (translated as ground beef) and chicken. There are also curried-vegetable and spinach-and-feta pies. What they all have in common is that they’re savory.
    These pies, especially the meat ones, are to New Zealanders, South Africans, Brits, Aussies and others with Commonwealth roots, what a hamburger is to an American. A staple. And just as hamburgers come good, bad and downright ugly, so do pies.
    Hitchens pies are way beyond good. Take the minted lamb. As with the others, there is a firm yet delicate short-pastry base and a golden crust of light and airy puff pastry, hand-made with butter. The lamb that fills the pie, imported from New Zealand, is ground and cooked in its juices with flavorings of onions, garlic and pepper. No gravy thickeners here—and you don’t want to cook the mint, says Donna Hitchens, Clive’s life and restaurant partner. That would make it bitter, so it is added at the end. The resulting flavor evoked visions of garlic-studded roast leg of lamb. It was that good.
    Hitchens started cooking pies with misgivings (what serious chef wants to make the equivalent of the burger’s first cousin?) after he took Donna to New Zealand in 2000. She ate a pie there and loved it. She encouraged him. After positive responses to trial runs at farmers markets, the pub pie was born—a treat for royalty and commoner alike.
    The New Zealander, 1400 Webster St., Alameda; open 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Mon.–Thu., 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Fri., 8:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Sat. and 8:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Sun.; (510) 769-8555, www.the-newzealander.com.