Pasty Trucks And Bakeries

As vocal supporters of the burgeoning local pie movement, we celebrate the presence of another combination of flaky crust and flavorful fillings: the pasty.

A new food truck is devoted to the Cornish art, and a newish bakery has a penchant for the handheld pies plus a food truck in the works. Here's where to get your hands on some:

Bridgeport Pasty This eco-friendly electric truck picks one spot per day, between Hyde Park and Lincoln Square, to peddle its steaming pasties, which weigh in at nearly one pound each ($8). Owner Jay Sebastian offers three fillings monthly; the vegetarian pasty, packed with spinach, mushrooms, béchamel and Gruyère, was a recent favorite.

Pleasant House Bakery What differentiates a pasty from this Bridgeport café's savory pies, says owner Art Jackson, is that the ingredients are added raw: "That long stewing inside is what makes them so special." The Cornish pasty is a menu mainstay ($7.50), with supremely flaky dough–even flakier than that of the bakery's pies–surrounding steak, onions, rutabagas and potatoes. His wife Chelsea's sweet pasty, made with stone fruit and berries over the summer, now features apples, caramel and Scrumpy cider.

Follow Bridgeport Pasty on Twitter; find Pleasant House pasties at the bakery, at the Pilsen farmers' market and on the bakery's new food truck, which launched at last weekend's Pilsen market and will join weekly food truck meet-ups at Ethyl's and 694 Wine & Spirits soon.