ENCINITAS — Years after a fire took out its Leucadia cafe along Coast Highway 101, Peace Pies is preparing a return to North County.
Peace Pies, an eatery specializing in raw vegan and gluten-free foods, started out making pie and pizza crusts for farmers’ markets in 2007 before opening two locations in Ocean Beach and Leucadia.
The cafe became a local favorite over the years, offering unique vegan and gluten-free pasta, pizzas, tacos, nori rolls, and other global dishes.
“We take fruits, veggies, seeds and nuts and manipulate them into traditional entrees,” said owner JP Alfred.
Tragedy struck in September 2019 when a fire broke out at the Mozy Cafe and consumed the building that housed Peace Pies, Shatto and Sons Custom T-Shirts and the Cali Life art gallery.
For the last three and a half years, loyal customers made the trek to Ocean Beach to visit Peace Pies, with many asking when, if ever, the cafe would return to Leucadia.
“People want us up there,” Alfred said.
Since the fire, Alfred has been working with the property owner, Jim Shatto, to bring back Peace Pies.
In September 2022, Shatto broke ground on a reconstruction project at the same Leucadia plot once home to his t-shirt shop. The Shatto building will be home to four businesses, including Peace Pies, which will return to operate in a restaurant space with an outdoor patio on the backside of the building.
“We’ve been working on it for a very long time,” Alfred said.
Alfred said the new space will be “bright, beautiful and clean” and nearly double the size before the fire.
Though reconstruction is almost complete, there are still likely months of paperwork and other technical matters to attend to before Peace Pies can reopen. As a result, an official reopening date has yet to be determined.
A GoFundMe created by organizer Brielle Martell is collecting donations to help aid Peace Pies in its efforts to rebuild and reopen the Leucadia location.
“Please help us reopen our Peace Pies Encinitas location and get us back up and running to help serve the community with good vibes and raw vegan food,” Martell said.
Alfred is grateful for the strong community support his business has received from North County over the years and looks forward to returning to Encinitas.
“We’re super excited,” he said.
