Four & Twenty Blackbirds

Sibling owners Emily and Melissa Elsen have serious pie-making cred, having grown up in the family restaurant in Hecla, South Dakota, at the dough-rolling elbow of their grandmother Elizabeth. Before opening Four & Twenty, they were custom-baking out of their Crown Heights apartment, but having deemed the burgeoning Third Avenue strip in need of a local coffee shop, they made their operation official. Unlike their lard-loving grandma, the sisters prefer the flavor of butter crusts and make theirs by hand; their fruits are often local, and frozen or preserved for off-season use. There are also daily savory galettes made with market vegetables, and breakfast pastries, quiche, sandwiches, and all manner of sweets, plus Stumptown coffee. But pie is the thing, from standbys like the salted caramel apple pie and the chocolate chess to seasonal favorites like brown butter pumpkin, which are preordered by the hundreds during the holidays.