Pies are a simple concept. But it’s a big leap from a restaurant-made beauty to a quick grab-and-go option. Both have their place, but the difference in quality is undeniable.
Will Lewis, a chef who’s worked at restaurants like St John, Rochelle Canteen and Brat, has managed to bridge that gap, creating takeaway pies with the finesse you’d expect from a restaurant. He founded Willy’s Pies while furloughed during the pandemic, making the pies in his east London kitchen and hand-delivering them.
Now, Willy’s hand makes 10,000 pies a week in Hackney. They’re sold at Arsenal, Fulham and Watford stadiums, as well as at regular pub residencies, on Ocado and via its own website. In 2022 it earned investment from Arsenal legend Ian Wright, who was keen to raise the quality of the pies served at football matches.
Lewis’s success is partly down to his ethos: “If we’re going to do this one thing, we’re going to do it right – let’s not cut corners, and let’s really care.”
What does it take for a pie to meet the Willy’s Pies standard? “Generosity [of] ingredients is really key,” Lewis explains. “There’s nothing worse than getting a pie that’s all sauce; so we try to be really generous. If it’s a chicken pie, it’s got loads of chicken in it. We use fresh ingredients. No dry herbs. We’re using really good quality British and Irish free-range chickens and grass-fed beef.” Then there’s texture: “different sizes [and] shapes of meat is key. I hate uniformly diced chicken, it’s so unnatural to us.”
Although the company has quadrupled in size since its inception, Lewis won’t cut corners, and that includes a commitment to making chicken stock and hand-pressing the pies. “These things we will always do to remain artisanal.” The Willy’s factory is staffed with chef-trained bakers, which naturally raises standards. “We’re not a factory, we are a bakery, with chefs starting at five in the morning, cooking and shaping pies by hand.”
Lewis’s love of pies goes back to his restaurant days, when staff meals often meant “whacking down a massive pie for 12 people and everyone would be buzzing”. The first Willy’s Pies creation was a beef brisket, oxtail and Newcastle Brown Ale number. While the menu is ever-changing, the house favourite remains the roast chicken, rosemary and leek. Lewis also has a soft spot for the beef mince and Westcombe Cheddar pie, which is inspired by Australian and New Zealand mince pies – found everywhere from school canteens to service stations, bakeries and sports stadiums – and a nod to his years living down under. Other standouts include braised lamb shoulder with butter beans and salsa verde; rabbit, cider and tarragon; and Tuscan sausage with scamorza and friarelli.
While scaling up risks losing sight of a business’s original mission – Lewis is currently hunting for a larger site to eventually produce 100,000 pies a week – he remains focused on serving those who backed him from the start.
London Pantry is a series celebrating ingredients made by London’s greatest producers that have gone from cult classics to kitchen staples.
Looking for more London ingredients? Read about Koya’s Bitsy Chilli Oil.
