From as far back as my early youth in the late 1950’s in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, I always looked forward to a pie at the local tuck-shop which became a regular Friday afternoon occurrence.

I arrived in Phuket on my yacht in 1993, and have lived here off and on ever since, but until now have never found pies I liked. On returning regularly to my family in Australia, one of the first things I would do is have an Aussie pie.

In 2002 while on one of these visits, Pat, my sister, bought me a Breville waffle-type pie machine, which then gave me the idea of being able to make pies to my liking, for myself and my husband, back in Phuket. At the time however, one could not buy ready-made pastry, so from then on making pastry became an obsession.

I would read every pastry cookbook I could get my hands on until I mastered the art over a 12 month period. Many people told me it was impossible to make proper puff pastry in a hot humid climate; however I have proved them wrong.

Once when I made what I thought was a half decent pie, I took myself off to the Ao Chalong Yacht Club - renowned for its beer guzzling Aussie boys - knowing full well I would walk away either very happy or with my tail between my legs as Aussie men tell you the way it is! While they were assessing my pies in the conference room, Sue, the club manager at the time, asked what I was calling myself so I said, “the pie lady”. She replied, “Why not Lady Pie”? The name has stuck!

The boys liked the pies so I started making them for them, ourselves, friends, and individual orders through the yacht club. I noticed everywhere I went that people would ask after my pies so I started taking regular orders.


By 2004 I had formed an official company and worked with full time employee Boom in a small shed next to our beachside house in Kamala servicing 15 regular clients with pies. During this period I converted production from the Breville waffle-type pie, to pallet pies from the oven. The December 26 tsunami literally washed the business into the Andaman Sea.








Being a bit of an Aussie battler, within two weeks I was starting to remake pies in The Club in Kamala with a salvaged and battered Breville pie machine. Then two more new machines arrived from Australia. We then moved into a house in Kamala with a big kitchen where, with a salvaged fridge, production went back into full swing. Within two months it was back to normal with a lot of new equipment bought locally including a second hand gas oven in which we can now cook up to 50 pies within 15 minutes.






I received a lot of encouragement from Simple Simon Pie Machine Co in Sydney who picked up my tsunami story from an Australian press article and collected a full pallet load of pie equipment donations for me. Australian Bakery & Pizza Importers & Distributors is to be thanked for having donated a mixer and Moffatt Ltd Ron Treloar for an oven.(Receiving the goods in Phuket is another story!) On top of this, the fact that I couldn't get the type of chest freezer given to me into my house kitchen encouraged me set up in independent premises in Cherng Talay in December 2005.



I am now living my dream by running my own bakery and pie shop/restaurant with a full time staff of six excellent local girls.