A pie shop finds a warm welcome in California college town

We like: I Like Pie Bakeshop

I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in on a zoom meeting with the Mt. Sac Hospitality and Culinary Arts Club’s “Bakery Talk” which featured guest speaker Annika Corbin the owner of the much loved, I LIKE PIE Bakeshop in Claremont, California.

I am currently working on getting my degree in Baking at Mt. Sac and I am having a blast taking classes. Everything is virtual at the moment, but I look forward to getting into a classroom kitchen someday soon.

Now, back to pie.

I have been to the Claremont Pie Festival before and always loved the community-feel of this neighborhood. Turns out Claremont has a sweet spot for this shop which started the annual pie festival.

I was excited to hear Corbin speak about he challenges she has faced since opening the retail store in 2012.

The greatest thing about this chat was Corbin speaking frankly about the realities of owning a bakery to students who have aspirations of owning a shop of their own.

She offered great insight on the challenges that come with entrepreneurship, including the sacrifices she and her family had to make.

She spoke on the sacrifices she and family had to make to move from the East Coast to Claremont to open the business.

“Without exception, people thought we were crazy,” she told the class. “It was really, really hard.”

But as she celebrates her 8th year in business in the midst of a pandemic, Corbin has discovered a deeper sense of community. Those first few months of COVID-19, Corbin faced a quiet store front and a desire to help. So the shop began to make pies for first responders and others who needed a bite of comfort in a time of crisis.

Corbin began to make pies for first responders I LIKE PIE and even found a deeper sense of community in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing comfort and pies to first responders in the region, one bite at a time.

“Who would have ever thought something like this could happen?” Corbin asked the class.

I LIKE PIE Bakeshop creates individual sized pies, which allows the pie lover a chance to get an assortment of flavors versus '“committing” to one flavor.

You can learn more about Corbin and I LIKE PIE on this great video by the Inland Empire Explorer.