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Don’t drive by Drive-By Pies

A cherry pie from Drive-By Pies.Sharon Brody

At Drive-By Pies Bake Shop in Brookline, the strawberry rhubarb pie is brimming with fruit. Juicy strawberries and rhubarb stalks are tart and slightly crunchy; the lattice crust buttery and sturdy enough to hold up to the scrumptious filling. You’ll want a second slice. Don’t take the name of the bakery literally. Definitely don’t drive by. Fran Kolenik recently opened the shop a half-year after closing the beloved BakerBaker in West Roxbury. She had a loyal following when she bid the place farewell. So Kolenik sent out e-mails to her regulars and posted on Facebook that she was baking from her house and delivering pies and other baked goods right to the door. “By doing that I kept my customer base,” says the baker. She researched buying a food truck and conjured up the name Drive-By Pies. But when the Cypress Street spot became available, Kolenik took the leap. “I missed the interaction with customers,” she said. She renovated the modest space, once a wedding and party cake business, and painted the walls blueberry. Her recipes are a riff on ones that come from her mother, who long ago won an apple pie contest at Shoppers World in Framingham. Kolenik’s own homey apple pies are loaded with thick slices of Macintoshes. Maine blueberries fill others. She also whips up a variety of dense cream pies crowned with whipped cream — chocolate made with Callebaut, coconut, banana, and an aromatic citrusy key lime nestled in a graham cracker crust made with granola and coconut ($18 to $20 for 9-inch pies; $6 a slice). Every morning Kolenick bakes muffins, scones, sticky buns, cookies, bars, and other pastries. Alongside the sweets are chicken pot pies with chunks of white meat and carrots, and meat pies ($18 for 9-inch pies; $8 for 5-inch mini pies). Breakfast egg sandwiches with bacon, sausage, or avocado also come out of the small kitchen. Kolenik recently added sandwiches and salads. Even if you’re not driving by, it’s worth the trip. 248 Cypress St., Brookline, 617-879-6210, www.drive-bypies.com.