Over the course of the last couple of weeks I have come to a curious but compelling culinary conclusion, a conclusion I stand behind fully and faithfully. Ready? Here you go: The Bakehouse Party Time Pumpkin Pie is one of the most delicious foods we make in the ZCoB!
I do not, to be clear, say that lightly. And since I am neither a big sweets-eater nor a big Thanksgiving celebrator, my appreciation and affinity for the pumpkin pie is not coming out of some sort of childhood emotional attachment. It is instead just a straight offering of an honest endorsement from someone—me—who has spent a lifetime learning about, teaching about, and tasting great food.
The bottom line is that the Party Time Pumpkin Pie is just wonderfully flavorful! If you haven’t tasted it of late, swing by. A taste is free for the asking, and I’m confident that you will be intrigued by the pie’s inherent excellence. Unlike so many pumpkin pies on the market, the Bakehouse’s is not your typical rust-colored pie to put out on the table to honor an old tradition. To the contrary, if one can block out the association with Thanksgiving, I think we could all happily eat this pie pretty much any time. It’s creamy. It’s full-flavored. It is definitely not too sweet, and the spices are superb.
A classic coming-together of Native American, European, and Asian culinary influences, the pie features a creamy filling of pumpkin, which is native to the Americas, and is spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves that come from Southeast Asia. It’s lightly sweetened with local honey, enhanced by heavy cream in an all-butter crust (dairy products, of course, have their roots in Europe). The pie’s crust has—like the Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Gingerbread Cake, and scones the Bakehouse makes and the Buttermilk Biscuits, Butterscotch Pudding, and more at the Roadhouse—been made better by the addition of Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter. In fact, the crust has become so tasty that I would be happy to nibble it on its own with a cup of our good 2025 Holiday Blend coffee.
Although most people top their pumpkin pie with whipped cream, there are an array of other great options. The Cioccoarancia (Italian chocolate-hazelnut-orange spread) that I wrote about below is wonderful with it. This pie is also amazing with apricot jam and super with strawberry. I like to take mine up a notch with a drizzle of sorghum syrup, a sprinkling of toasted walnuts, and/or a dollop of cinnamon-scented whipped cream! And, by the way, the Party Time Pumpkin Pie is a perfect breakfast option. Seriously, consider skipping the pumpkin spice latte and having a slice of it with your coffee on the side. Check it out soon, while it’s still in season!
In 1982, Ari Weinzweig, along with his partner Paul Saginaw, founded Zingerman’s Delicatessen with a $20,000 bank loan, a Russian History degree from the University of Michigan, 4 years of experience washing dishes, cooking and managing in restaurant kitchens and chutzpah from his hometown of Chicago. They opened the doors with 2 employees and a small selection of specialty foods and exceptional sandwiches.
Today, Zingerman’s Delicatessen is a nationally renowned food icon and the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has grown to 10 businesses with over 750 employees and over $55 million in annual revenue. Aside from the Delicatessen, these businesses include Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Coffee Company, Creamery, Roadhouse, Mail Order, ZingTrain, Candy Manufactory, Cornman Farms and a Korean restaurant that is scheduled to open in 2016. No two businesses in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are alike but they all share the same Vision and Guiding Principles and deliver “The Zingerman’s Experience” with passion and commitment.
Besides being the Co-Founding Partner and being actively engaged in some aspect of the day-to-day operations and governance of nearly every business in the Zingerman’s Community, Ari Weinzweig is also a prolific writer. His most recent publications are the first 4 of his 6 book series Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading Series: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business (Part 1), Being a Better Leader (Part 2), Managing Ourselves (Part 3) and the newly-released Part 4, The Power of Beliefs in Business. Earlier books include the Zingerman’s Guides to Giving Great Service, Better Bacon, Good Eating, Good Olive Oil, Good Vinegar and Good Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Ari regularly travels across the country (and world) on behalf of ZingTrain, teaching organizations and businesses about Zingerman’s approach to business. He is a sought-after Keynote speaker, having delivered keynotes for Inc. 500, Microsoft Expo Spring Conference, Great Game of Business Gathering of Games, Positive Business Conference at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the American Cheese Society. Most recently, Ari and Paul Saginaw were invited to address an audience of 50,000 for the University of Michigan 2015 Spring Commencement.
One of Zingerman’s Guiding Principles is being an active part of the community and in 1988, Zingerman’s was instrumental in the founding of Food Gatherers, a food rescue program that delivers over 5 million pounds of food each year to the hungry residents of Washtenaw county. Every year Zingerman’s donates 10% of its previous years profits to local community organizations and non-profits. Ari has served on the board of The Ark, the longest continuously operating folk music venue in America.
Over the decades, the Zingerman’s founding partners have consistently been the recipients of public recognition from a variety of diverse organizations. In April 1995, Ari and Paul were awarded the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County’s first Humanitarian Award. In 2006, Ari was recognized as one of the “Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America” by the James Beard Foundation. In 2007, Ari and Paul were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bon Appetit magazine for their work in the food industry. Ari was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Cheese Society in 2014. And Ari’s book, Building a Great Business was on Inc. magazine’s list of Best Books for Business Leaders.
Notwithstanding the awards, being engaged on a daily basis in the work of 10 businesses and 21 partners, writing books on business and in-depth articles on food for the Zingerman’s newsletter, Ari finds time to be a voracious reader. He acquires and reads more books than he can find room for. Ari might soon find himself the owner of the largest collection of Anarchist books in Ann Arbor outside the Labadie collection at the University of Michigan library!
