Grub Street

If you’ve visited Pies-N-Thighs in the last six or seven weeks, you may have noticed Steven Tanner, the restaurant’s resident chicken and barbecue man, missing in action. The laconic chef exited the business in early February, leaving the “thighs” half of the business in the capable hands of Diner and Spotted Pig alum Carolyn Bane, who bought out his interest. (“Steven loves to cook,” Bane tells us, “but he didn’t want to own a restaurant.”)

Co-owner and baker Sarah Buck is still plugging away, and though Bane makes the chicken exactly as before, she has expanded the menu to include okra pudding with country hominy; boiled “herby shrimp” dressed with cilantro, jalapeño, and celery; and that southern classic, pimento cheese with Ritz crackers and pickled okra. And she’s working on more: she-crab soup; house-ground sage sausage; green bean, egg, and bacon salad; and house-cured pickled vegetables. We’ll miss Tanner’s eccentric, moody manner though; it was part of the place’s no-frills charm.