What Are You Eating For Pi Day?
By Melissa McEwen in Food on Mar 13, 2014 9:00PM
Braised Pork Hand Pie, soybean sprout kimchi, scallions, radishes at Endgrain
Pi Day is a celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi). It is celebrated each year on March 14 because pi’s first three digits are 3, 1 and 4. It’s a great day to try out some of your favorite math problems that you miss so much from high school or to memorize as many digits of pi as you possibly can. In reality, for most math students, it’s an excuse to eat pie in math class. But you don’t need to be a math student to celebrate pi day with food.
Bang Bang Pie Shop (2051 N California Ave.) is serving up key lime, lemon cream, chocolate pecan, Bailey's cheesecake, blackberry jam galette, and chocolate peanut butter.
Hoosier Mama (1618 1/2 W. Chicago Ave.; 749 Chicago Ave., Evanston) is turning five on Pi day and though it’s too late to pre-order pies, they will have an assortment of specials.
Some other options include Jimmy Jamm Sweet Potato Pies (1844 W. 95th St.) which has just has one kind of pie, but it’s delicious and they have many other great sweet potato dessert options. Grange Hall Burger Bar also carries a formidable selection of housemade pies for takeout or to eat in. MK (868 N. Franklin St.) is serving “you’re the apple of my pie” with Mick Klug Farm honeycrisp apple turnover, apple butter, salted caramel, cheddar cheese tuile and cinnamon ice cream.
If sweets aren’t your thing, Pleasant House’s (964 W. 31st St.) savory pies or Endgrain’s (1851 W. Addison St.) pork hand pie topped with pungent kimchi are great ways to celebrate in a savory way.
There is also the other type of pie, which is pizza pie. The Boarding House (720 N. Wells St.) is serving $14 pies such as their merguez pizza that features the spicy Middle-Eastern sausage from Smoking Goose.
Pi is a Greek letter and it was Greek mathematician Archimedes who first wrote down the algorithm for calculating pi. It’s a great day to check out the flaky pastry pie filled with spinach known as Spanakopita at Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop (322 S. Halsted St.) or the Prassópita filled with leeks, dill, lemon, and goat feta at Taxim (1558 N. Milwaukee Ave.).