Jo Groud has taken her award-winning pies all over Victoria. After a few years selling them at the Portsea Pier General Store and pop-ups at the Queen Victoria, Red Hill, Mornington and Portsea markets, Groud has settled down at the Elwood end of Glenhuntly Road, opening her own specialty pie store, Harrow & Eton. The store doesn’t have any seating, but acts as takeaway shop and wholesaler.

One thing Groud has noticed is that people’s choices in pies are different here. “In Portsea, the peppered roo and the curried scallop were flying out the door. But in Elwood, people are loving the chicken tarragon and the beef ‘n’ Guinness,” she says.

If you’re after something different, the Catalan beef with dark-chocolate gravy is a subtly bittersweet, rich, savoury pie that could almost pass as dessert.

“People are apprehensive to try it at first, but find the flavours work really well together,” Groud says.

Most of Groud’s pies are filled with slow-cooked meats, but there are a few interesting vegetarian options.

The art of pastry making is certainly challenging. It needs to be delicate and flaky without being too dry; yet durable enough to ensure the pie doesn’t sag or worse – break.

“It took me a few months and endless experimenting to perfect our pastry. In the end, we’ve gone with a savoury shortcrust pastry for the base and a pure butter pastry for pie tops.”

The pies come in three sizes; canapé, lunch and family. Harrow & Eton also does catering, selling savoury pies, tartlets and salads, along with seasonal fruit pies.

While pie is the star, the store sells bread from Burnham Bakery, bagels from 5 & Dime and salads. Coffee is by Berwick roasters, Zest.

Harrow & Eton
61 Glenhuntly Road, Elwood

Hours
Wed to Fri 8am–6pm
Sat 8am–2pm

harrowandeton.com.au

Image credit: Adrian Tuazon-McCheyne