WCVB CHANNEL 5.
ANCHOR: FILLING NEW ENGLAND’S BELLIES.
TABLETOP HIGHS, THIRD ICE CREAM -- HOOD ICE CREAM.
B AND M BRICK OVEN.
DOWN COMFORT REMAIN.
>> WE USE THE BEST WE CAN FIND.
ANCHOR: A RARE AMERICAN FURNITURE MAKER.
>> THAT IS HARD TO GET NOWADAYS.
ANCHOR: MADE IN NEW ENGLAND, NEXT ON "CHRONICLE." GOOD EVENING.
TONIGHT, MOUTHWATERING TOURS INSIDE OF NEW ENGLAND’S FAVORITE FACTORIES.
EMILY: BEFORE COMPUTERS CAME INTO OUR LIVES, THESE BUSINESSES RAN FULL STEAM.
♪ >> IN THIS FAST-PACED CYBER AGE, IT IS EASY TO FORGET FACTORIES ARE STILL PUMPING OUT EVERYDAY GOODS.
WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY FROM SLATER’S SPINNING MACHINE IN PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND, BIRTHPLACE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
TODAY, THERE IS A MACHINE FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING, THE MAZE OF METAL AND MOVING PARTS A BALLET OF TECHNOLOGY.
>> I AM A HALF -- I AM A HAPPY CUSTOMER.
. >> RIGHT OUT OF THE OVEN.
>> HERE IN WORCESTER, THE NAME TABLETALK HAS BEEN SYNONYMOUS WITH PIES.
>> PEOPLE WHO GREW UP IN THIS AREA SAY THEY GOT A BLUEBERRY APPLE PIE IN THEIR LUNCHBOX EVERY DAY.
>> HE IS PRESIDENT AND THIRD-GENERATION BAKER OF PIES.
WHY PIES?
>> MY GRANDFATHER MET HIS PARTNER IN THE DISCARDED -- AND THEY DECIDED TO GO OFF ON THEIR OWN.
HE SAID, A LOT OF AMERICANS SEEM TO LIKE HIGHS -- SEEM TO LIKE PIES.
YOU HAVE TO BE VERY DELICATE.
IT WANTS TO PULL APART VERY EASILY.
>> I IS IT STILL THE RECIPE FROM 1924?
>> THERE ARE THINGS MY GRANDFATHER DID NOT LIKE TO TALK ABOUT.
IT MAKES IT MORE TASTY.
>> TASTY ENOUGH THAT BY THE 1960’S, TABLE TOP WAS THE LARGEST MAKER OFPIES IN THE COUNTRY.
>> THEY DECIDED THAT WAS THE TIME TO SELL.
THERE WERE THREE PARTNERS AT THAT TIME.
>> CORPORATE TIES WERE NOT A GOOD FIT, AND IN 1984, THE DOORS CLOSED.
TWO YEARS LATER, THE FACTORY WAS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN.
TODAY, THIS BRAND-NEW 50,000 SQUARE-FOOT PLANT IS A SIGN THAT TABLETALK AND ITS FOUR INCH DELIGHT IS HERE TO STAY.
>> WE MAKE OVER 10,000 PIES AN HOUR.
>> AN HOUR?
I NEED MORE NUMBERS.
DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR.
HOW MANY PIES ARE YOU GUYS ACTUALLY MAKING?
>> 200,000 A DAY, THREE FACILITIES AND WE PUT OUT HUNDRED 65 MILLION -- PUT OUT 165 MILLION PIES.
>> DO YOU LIKE SAYING THAT?
>> I DO, BUT I LIKE YOUR RESPONSE EVEN BETTER.
>> NOT ALL OF THESE PIES MAKE IT TO MARKET.
THOSE DEEMED PERFECTLY IMPERFECT CAN BE HAD AT BARGAIN PRICES AT THE PIES STORE ON GREEN STREET.
THE STORE MANAGER.
WHY ARE THESE PERFECTLY IMPERFECT?
>> YOU CAN TELL BECAUSE IT IS CRACKED.
IT IS PROBABLY UNDERWEIGHT.
>> SMALL PIES, BIG PIES.
FOR LOCALS WHO GREW UP HERE, A SLICE OF THE SOLDIER.
>> THEIR FACES LIGHT UP LIKE THEY ARE EIGHT YEARS OLD.
THEY ARE EXCITED TO GET THE PIES THEY GREW UP ON.
>> IT IS A QUARTER.
NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE.
>> HERE, YOU GET PI, COFFEE, CONVERSATION, AND A PIE SHAKE.
>> OF FULL PIE THOSE IN?
ICE CREAM, WITH GREEN, AND CARAMEL DRIZZLE -- WHIPPED CREAM, AND CARAMEL DRIZZLE.
AN OLD TAKE -- A NEW TAKE ON ON OLD FAVORITE.
BEN: A GREAT COMEBACK STORY, BUT WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE NAME TABLETALK?
EMILY: HIS GRANDFATHER AND BUSINESS PARTNER WERE SITTING AROUND THE TABLE AND WANTED THEIR PIES TO BE THE TALK OF THE DINING ROOM TABLE.
SO THERE COMES TABLE TALK.
THAT IS WHERE THEY CAME UP WITH IT.
BEN: AT B AND M BAKED BEANS, THEY CANNOT SPILL THE BEANS.
>> THE RECIPE, I AM NOT SURE