Scott Chapman fell in love with pie when he was 8 years old. His family had just moved from Syracuse, New York, to Nashville, Tennessee, and he had discovered the decadent joys of Southern food. A neighbor made his family a chocolate fudge pie, and he said it was love at first bite.
In fact, Chapman said he loved the pie so much he resolved then and there to learn how to make it. His neighbor loaned him her cookbook, "Miss Daisy’s Tearoom," and he never imagined that the fudge pie would one day become a crowd favorite at Chapman’s own pie shop.
Before opening Proud Pie at 3522 S. Mason Road, Chapman got his start in the hotel and country club industry. Working his way to the front of the house helped him develop the love for the hospitality industry that he carries to this day, he said.
After a successful stint as a director of food and drink at a local hotel, Chapman said he was confident he would have the business savvy to run his own company.
Proud Pie specializes in gourmet coffee and handmade artisan pies, Chapman said. The store, located on South Mason Road, opened in November 2015 and features plethora of original pie recipes. Every pie recipe the company produces was created or developed by Chapman himself then taught to the other bakers on staff.
“There’s nothing ‘box mix’ about our recipes,” he said. “We start from scratch.”
The store features 14 pie flavors, including Kohala coconut cream and Miss Daisy’s rich chocolate fudge. Chapman uses his own interpretation of the classic recipe, instead substituting in Ghirardelli dark chocolate and cococa powder.
A large part of the store’s rise in popularity has been its dedication to handmade pies with no additives or preservatives, Chapman said.
Each morning, the baking staff begins preparing pies at 7 a.m. and bakes them in small batches until around 3 p.m. The kitchen churns out anywhere from 65 to 200 pies a day, enough to stock both the storefront property and the Proud Pie mobile truck.
Proud Pie uses a small batch kitchen method because the lack of additives or preservatives reduces
the shelf life of each pie to around
48 hours, Chapman said.
Every recipe exclusively calls for real butter, not shortening, lard or margarine, and all cream pies feature hand-whipped heavy cream.
Because each pie crust is shaped and crimped by hand, no two pies ever look the same, Chapman said.
“Each pie is different—like a special snowflake,” he said.
Connecting with families is an important part of starting a business, he said. Chapman said he picked Katy as the location for his first store because of the great family environment in the city.
The store offers a variety of community engagement activities, including a weekly bingo night and a twice monthly pie giveaway.
“Our roots are deep in Katy,” Chapman said. “There are a lot of great cities in Texas but Katy is home.”
