The intrepid search for Chris Hipkins’ favourite Upper Hutt pie shop

As journalists, sometimes we need to push for answers to questions people want to dodge. So when PM Chris Hipkins refused to reveal his favourite pie shop on Monday, an in-depth hunt seemed the only answer.

On Stuff’s Newsable Podcast on Monday, the PM admitted he loves a good pie, and when it came to his favourite spot, he dropped few valuable hints.

The shop is in Upper Hutt. And he’s a fan of steak and cheese. The rest demanded good old-fashioned detective work.

I aced my investigative journalism post-grad paper more than a decade ago, and while I don’t eat pies, I’m no stranger to finding good ones. My US-based brother would demand we track down the best pies on his visits home. We usually succeeded.

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Not to brag or anything, but I was born for this task. Like any good investigative journalist, I dove deep from the get-go and googled: “Pie + Upper Hutt”.

A call to Trentham Pie Shop hit language barriers, and Real Meat Pies said they didn’t think he’d been in, but a visit from Hipkins would be “exciting”.

“We wish he had been here,” they told me.

Do you know Chris Hipkins’ favourite pie-maker? Email us: lifeandstyle@stuff.co.nz

Then came a surge of hope with Pickle and Pie Piecart. Let’s be honest, if you have pie twice in your name, you must know what you’re doing, right?

In a Facebook message I told them about my hunt for Hipkins’ favourite pie spot. And asked if Chippy is a known customer.

And I hit the jackpot. Well, maybe. Chippy has, they confirmed, visited the Pickle and Pie Piecart.

“It could be our beef brisket and smoked cheddar?”

Like any good journalist on the hunt for answers, I asked follow-ups. Did they know when he was last in? Do they make a standard steak and cheese?

They confirmed the above-mentioned is the eatery’s version of a steak and cheese, but the last time the staff member served him was before he became PM.

Is Hipkins really a brisket and smoked cheddar over standard steak and cheese type of prime minister? I wasn’t convinced.

Silverstream bakery, according to reviews, make “very good” or “fantastic” pies. But they “don’t think” he eats there.

Staff at the Bun Factory, and Fresh Bun Bakery, and Mr Tran Bakery and Coffeehouse also denied selling steak and cheese pies to Hipkins. Bella Café didn’t recall serving Hipkins, but suggested I come in and buy one myself.

Café Blume does not currently sell steak and cheese pies.

Suddenly a Facebook post from 2017 piqued my interest. Chris Hipkins was recommending Tricky’s Sandwich Co. And in the post, he was eating what looked like a pie.

“I wouldn’t say regular, but he does come in now and again,” I was told by the staffer who took my call. Feeling like I’ve cracked the case, I checked whether he buys steak and cheese pies when he eats there.

Tricky’s Sandwich Co. sells steak and cheese sandwiches, not pies.

I was starting to despair. Would the elusive pie remain a mystery forever? Did the A on my investigative journalism paper back in the mid-2000s mean nothing?

But one bakery seemed as elusive online as Hipkins’ pie revelation.

At first glance, Corner Bakery had a listed Google address as “Upper Hutt Central” with no attached phone number, but reviews praised the pastry goods.

“Usually I can’t stomach a pie, but this place is something else”, one read.

It seemed too much of a coincidence to let go. A Facebook message went unanswered and a White Pages search revealed nothing. But with a little further digging on Google I found a cellphone number and called, feeling like I was about to break something big.

My adrenaline balloon quickly deflated when the staffer told me he had no recollection of the Prime Minister buying up large on steak and cheese pies, but he also had his own theory.

“He may have got someone else to buy his steak and cheese pies,” I was told.

And with that, after reaching 12 Upper Hutt eateries, I hit a dead end.

Could it be that Hipkins’ favourite pie is actually brisket and smoked cheddar rather than regular steak and cheese? Or is he so good at blending in that nobody noticed serving him? Perhaps his favourite spot is one I did not manage to reach on my hunt.

Or is it, like Corner Bakery suggested, that Chippy is so sneaky with his pie habit, he doesn’t even buy them himself?

The answer, for today at least, will remain exactly as Hipkins wanted it.

A mystery.