When deciding where Verbatim staff wanted to go for our following food review, the staff thought it would be best to visit a women-owned Omaha restaurant to bring attention and awareness to Women’s History Month. Our classmate, Janeilya Davis, recommended the bakery Carter & Rye on Center Street, which opened in 2019 by two women who share a passion for pastries and specialty coffee.

During lunch period, the Verbatim staff drove down Center Street to Carter & Rye. The drive was not long since the location was fairly close to BT, and parking was relatively accessible. However, we did have to walk across the street. The outside was fairly small, and a balloon sign saying “hand pies” could be seen through the window. The available hand pies were presented on a large chalkboard when we walked in and offered sweet and savory options. The inside of the store was very aesthetically pleasing, with cute pastel decorations and a plethora of plants. Given the grab-and-go format of the bakery, we ordered our pies and ate them in Akshay’s car. To bring customers back, Carter & Rye offers new flavors weekly. The four options for this week were brown sugar cinnamon, mango-citrus jam, sausage egg and cheese, and sweet potato casserole. Once we made our decisions, we easily paid with their modern technology. The pies were pretty small, but the savory pies were a little bigger and were filling enough for a meal for most people. Although the sweet pies were also filling, they were not filling enough for a full meal. Further, we cannot wait to see what Carter & Rye comes up with in the future.

Calvin: Out of the four different options: brown sugar cinnamon, mango-citrus jam, sausage egg and cheese, and sweet potato casserole, I chose to try the brown sugar cinnamon hand pie. This was one of the two “sweet” options versus the two “savory” options. The hand pie was warm and very soft to eat. The flavors were immaculate and very delicious. The prices were also pretty cheap, being only around $4 per pie, which I think is worth it. I would definitely recommend trying any of the hand pies, especially the brown sugar cinnamon. I will be returning to try the mango-citrus as well.

Kidman: I tried the mango citrus jam hand pie. This was a new flavor at Carter & Rye, and I was excited to try it. I liked the flaky crust, and the sugar on top of the pie gave it a nice crunch. The mangos inside the pie were delicious. They did not taste artificial and were not overly sweet. I highly recommend Carter & Rye.

Kate: I chose the brown sugar cinnamon hand pie to eat. It was very easy to eat, and the taste was delicious. 

In addition to our in-person visit to Carter & Rye, Kate Anderson, co-owner of Carter & Rye, was generous enough to answer some of our questions about her business through email.

What prompted you to start Carter & Rye?

I was extremely driven to create my own schedule. I always loved baking but did not love baker’s hours, so I made a business that wouldn’t require waking up in the middle of the night. All around I was looking to start a business that allowed me to have a balanced life. The food industry is notorious for long hours and low wages and I wanted to rewrite that for myself and future employees.

What makes Carter & Rye unique?

Carter & Rye is unique for its extremely convenient yet high-quality food. We focus on quality, using only the best local ingredients wherever possible, and make every single pie with love and attention. It’s truly a labor of love that our customers tell us they appreciate!

What’s your favorite part about Carter & Rye?

We love our dough (we call him Doug) SO much. Flaky and comforting, packed full of European butter. It’s the best vessel for our fresh, homemade fillings.

How has COVID-19 affected Carter & Rye?

Covid really made us slow down, and work smarter not harder. We could make really intentional decisions about our very new business. We pivoted to front porch deliveries during 2020, which ended up helping our business greatly! People grew accustomed to ordering 6-packs of hand pies to share or keep in the freezer for later in the week. Now most of our customer base comes in for at least one box of pies instead of just one or two.

March is Women’s History Month. What is it like running a women-owned and operated business?

I am so proud to own this business! I was passionate about starting my own business that I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way. I wouldn’t be where I am without the help of a lot of wonderful people in this community. We started our business out of the shared kitchen space at No More Empty Pots and owe a lot of our success to the women there that inspired and pushed us to pursue this dream.

Carter & Rye’s menu frequently changes. How do you create new flavors? 

We create flavors based on seasonality, we love shopping for the next week’s flavors at the farmers market. We’ve created amazing relationships with produce, cheese and meat farmers and try to integrate those items as much as possible. Winter months are a bit different so we source what we can locally and emphasize comfort foods like slow cooked pot roast or potato casserole. We’ve partnered with different chefs to create fun, new flavors for our diverse customer base!

What’s your favorite hand pie?

My personal favorite as well as a fan favorite…the sausage, kimchi, egg & cheese…yes please.

What do you hope to achieve in the future running Carter & Rye?

I hope to continue to grow the business strategically in a way that allows for myself and employees to live balanced lives including extremely above average wages and a wonderful, meaningful and fulfilling work environment. We put in a lot of work and are only open on the weekends now, but we do hope to grow with time!

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