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Podcasts Take Two
It's Pi Day! Have you tried a butterscotch pie?
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Mar 14, 2018
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It's Pi Day! Have you tried a butterscotch pie?
Old school diners like Pasadena's Pie 'n Burger are the place to be when you celebrate Pi Day.

Old school diners like Pasadena's Pie 'n Burger are the place to be when you celebrate Pi Day.

Today is 3/14,  where math and meals meet. That's because 3.14 are the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi. Nerdy people celebrate by eating pies, but where to do that in L.A.?

Take Two turned to Josh Scherer, formerly a food writer with Los Angeles Magazine, who picked the 14 best pies in L.A. a few years ago.

Food writer Josh Scherer (L) and KPCC's A Martinez share a slice of the butterscotch meringue pie at Pie 'n Burger in Pasadena.
Food writer Josh Scherer (L) and KPCC's A Martinez share a slice of the butterscotch meringue pie at Pie 'n Burger in Pasadena.
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Leo Duran/KPCC
)

Number 2 on his list is just down the road from KPCC: the butterscotch meringue pie at Pie 'n Burger in Pasadena. 

"Lemon meringue pie is also one of my favorites, so they replace that with this incredibly rich, roasty sweet butterscotch custard," he says. "Is it sweet-on-sweet? Yes. But that's what makes it so perfect for me."

Eating pies also has a special place in American culture.

"There's such a sense of place associated with pie," Scherer adds. "Like, if you tell someone, 'Meet me for pie and coffee,' it's different than, 'Meet me for a cupcake!'" 

Wherever you go for Pi Day, he says that old school diners and restaurants are the place to be. They serve the quintessential pies of your geometric dreams.

Where is your favorite pie in L.A., and what makes it so delicious?