It’s time to pass the pie: Lismore Pie Cart Bakery owners to sell up

“It deserves more than what we have to give it”, Lismore Pie Cart Bakery owners say they have lost their passion for pastry and are seeking to sell their business.

After feeding hundreds of hungry flood victims daily for months on end during food shortages, the owners of the iconic Lismore Pie Cart are hanging up the apron.

Lismore Pie Cart Bakery owner, Sharon Restall said she had lost her passion after a gruelling five-and-a-half months and it was time to pass the pie.

There was no power in town for the first six to eight weeks after 14m of flood water the floods wiped out all the businesses downtown on February 28, so the Pie Cart Bakery filled the void in everyone’s stomach.

“There were no shops open, because the whole town was destroyed,” Ms Restall said.

Owner Sharon Restall and Kim Baker beside Jeremy Milosevic (left to right) pictured outside Lismore Pie Cart Bakery on Magellan St, Lismore.

They would be making and cooking pies beyond capacity, selling hundreds and hundreds of pies a day, and always selling out.

“We were here, and the next places were Goonellabah, so we just got hammered,” Ms Restall said

“You probably hear that and go, ‘that’s good luck for you’, but it’s kind of to the point where it’s been too much.”

It was a very profitable period for the bakery, but the emotional cost and family sacrifices that Ms Restall made were more expensive than the revenue they saw from the boom in business.

“We just survived each day,” she said. “It has felt like a lifetime.”

The original Lismore Pie Cart. 'The Caravan Cafe' was established by Jack and Rose Hamilton in 1947.

Sharon’s husband, Brett Restall, owns and operates Dalley St Butchery, and has been supplying the Pie Cart with meat for the piquant pastries for years.

So it made perfect sense when, in February 2014, Ms Restall and her mum, Kim Baker, bought the business for $280,000.

“But it has just reached a point where our passion for it has run out and it’s time for somebody else to come along who’s got energy and can continue to be part of the rebuild of the town.”

“I still love the business, and I’m really proud of it. But I’m just not passionate about continuing and that’s how I know it’s time,” Ms Restall said.

The evolution of the Lismore Pie Cart over the years.

She’s taking a step back to spend time with her three young kids who have barely seen her over the last six months.

“They’ve had their own trauma (from the floods) as well, and they need me.”

And, Ms Baker is looking at retirement, where she will be able to properly enjoy her grandkids.

“(Lismore Pie Cart Bakery) is an important part of Lismore, and it needs to remain that way,” Ms Baker said. “It deserves more than what we have to give it.”

For the short-term after the business has been sold, Ms Restall said she would be helping out around her husband’s butchery when she’s not fussing over her kids.

“As a parent and as a business owner … my kids have to come first,” she said.