Domestic Bones, a new hand pie pop-up spot, serves flavors including ham, three-cheese and spicy chicken sausage.
Writer: Karla Walsh
When you hear “pie,” you probably think of Thanksgiving pumpkin or that picnic-perfect apple creation. Kimberly Dunn, owner of the new Des Moines-based savory hand pie pop-up company Domestic Bones, is on a mission to expand your pie horizons.
Her flavors range from ham and three-cheese and spicy chicken sausage to vegan samosa and vegetable pot hand pie. Dunn cooks out of The Mickle Center shared-use commercial kitchen and now sells at pop-ups at Peace Tree’s tap room (317 E Court Ave.) and at the Iowa Food Co-op.
“I use high-quality ingredients; many of them organic. For me, it is all about the filling, yet the most frequent feedback I get is about the flaky crust,” Dunn says.
The idea for the eatery came during the pandemic. While working at a grocery store, Dunn realized “life is too short to be doing something that I no longer love.” As she was trying to plan her next step, Dunn knew it was going to be in the food space. She had spent the previous 15 years working in the natural foods industry, including at Whole Foods Market in West Des Moines.
“I asked around as I was trying to find a niche in the Des Moines market that wasn’t being filled,” Dunn says. “Megan [McKay], the owner of Peace Tree Brewing, said she was looking to serve food in their taproom, and semi-jokingly hinted that hand pies would hit the mark.”
The more Dunn let that idea simmer, the more she loved it. Recently, Dunn went from full-time to part-time at Whole Foods, and plans to lean even more into making pies and more. Dunn also makes aprons with sustainable fabrics, which will soon be available for purchase on her website.
Keep up with future Domestic Bones events at domesticbones.com, on facebook.com/domesticbones and on Instagram @domesticbones.
