'Pie Goddess' helps make living here sweet

By ERIKA HAYASAKI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Some people's thoughts revolve around pie.

Suzanne Sidhu, a middle-aged woman who stands nearly six feet tall, meticulously drizzles pudding garnish over the top of her renowned "Butterscotch Lush" pie. Her sandy blonde hair is tied in a braid and stray wisps cradle her face as she works diligently in the kitchen.

Sidhu's customers call her the "Pie Goddess."

She has worked at the Sweet Shoppe -- which opened in 1905 on Main Street -- since 1987. Her tasty pies have brought nationwide attention to this community lunch spot.

She crafts the pie -- lined with crushed praline candy, layered with cream cheese and butterscotch, and topped with whipped cream and crushed almonds -- as if it were a piece of art.

And to her, pie-making -- whether it is butterscotch, coconut cream, apple sour cream, wild blackberry or cherry almond crunch -- is art.

"I have a creative streak in me," says Sidhu. "My philosophy is it's got to look good before anybody can decide if it tastes good."

Customers gush over her pies.

"She can put Martha Stewart to shame," says Jan Twardoski. "She's an artist, she's so precise."

"Have you tried that new raspberry pie?" asks Ron Smith. "It's absolutely ambrosia. I could buy a whole pie and sit here and eat the whole thing."

But it's not just pies that keep customers coming back.

It's the homelike atmosphere where waitresses often know customers by name and have their orders memorized. Tables are filled by noon with customers -- mostly regulars -- who come to chat, meet friends and enjoy a bowl of soup, a glass of lemonade or a slice of pie.

"Somebody called this the 'hub' once," says Sidhu. "Some come in and make the rounds, saying hi to everybody they know."

The restaurant's popularity is spreading.

The cozy eatery, which was featured in Sunset Magazine, helped put Buckley on the map, customers say. People travel from across Washington to sample Sidhu's award-winning pies.

It's a slice of life which, like the town, has been discovered.

But as long as Buckley -- with its once-hidden treasures -- stays traditional, residents say they don't mind sharing the pie once in a while.