Let me tell you the story of Pie Fridays. It was one of those ever so precious San Francisco food phenomena that sprung up near the corner of 19th and Linda Streets in the Mission a couple years ago, and made for brisk business for pie maker Sunde White. Then the health department came calling, ruined everyone's fun, and much like the Tamale Lady, White decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign and go for the brick-and-mortar gold.

But! She realized she couldn't hack it. She already has a greeting card business, and all she wanted to run was a once-a-week pie cart, not a whole restaurant. And her sad tale became the centerpiece of this week's Inside Scoop print column in the Chron.

Having worked in restaurants and bars since the age of 16, White knew how much goes into a restaurant; there is no such thing as "playing" restaurant, something that many first-timers learn too late.

Her body ached. The time commitment was too much. And after the initial effortlessness of the pie cart, the dream of a cafe became a reality that required a ton of work.

After some soul-searching, she shut down the Kickstarter, voiding all donations. She'll put her little red cart into retirement, thus closing another chapter in the ongoing story of start-up food businesses of San Francisco.

Strange, but sweet, that such a small business shutting down should garner such high-profile attention, and some 400 words, but here we are. And people do love pie.

On her Pie Fridays blog, White herself writes, "I deeply regret getting everyone's hopes up and then backing out but I guess it takes you standing at the precipice of opening a place to realize it's not the right choice for you."

A precipice of pie, if you will.

[Chron]
[Pie Fridays]