If you missed National Peach Pie Day, you don’t have to worry. The Harrison Hotel Group has partnered with local Snow Hill bakery, Del Vecchio’s to celebrate peach pie all year long.
The Perfect Peach Pairing
Pie is one of those desserts that hits perfectly in the Autumn months, paired with a crisp cocktail or a hot cup of coffee. And there couldn’t be two better families to help with that perfect pairing- the local, historical peach farming family, The Harrison’s, and the baking experts of Snow Hill, The Del Vecchio’s.
Harrison Peach History
J. G Harrison, established Harrison Brother’s Nurseries in 1884 in Berlin, MD. Orlando Harrison and family maintained the business as it continued to be passed down from generation to generation. The Harrison Brothers Nurseries dominated the peach industry providing up to 500 jobs in the area depending on the season. Railway cars would run through Berlin picking up the peaches and deliver them to towns along the east coast. It’s been said that the now Route 113 between Berlin and Snow Hill was flanked by what looked like thousands of miles of peach trees.
Baked to Perfection
Route 113 leads us directly into Snow Hill, where we meet The Del Vecchio family, owners of Del Vecchio’s Bakery. Owner and proprietor, John Del Vecchio, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with a pastry degree. He eventually moved to Ocean City, Maryland from Palm Beach, Florida, where John worked as a baking instructor. Del Vecchio worked as a pastry chef for The Olive Tree (formerly on 17th street) and eventually opened up his first bakery in Fenwick Island in 1997.
John taught baking courses at Wor-Wic Community College for 32 years for their Workforce Development program before retiring. And in his retirement came the newest bakery, which opened on August 3rd 2019 in downtown Snow Hill, which lead to a partnership with The Harrison Hotel Group.
Peach, Bumbleberry, Key Lime, and Chocolate Silk
Certain restaurants within the Harrison Hotel Group are now offering Del Vecchio’s delicious pies to pair with monthly specialty drinks such as a peach palmer or moon rita, a mixture of Casamigos tequila, triple sec, frozen peach mango puree with a sweet sugar rim. Marlin Moon, 32 Palm, The Coral Reef, and The Captain’s Table all offer the top flavor pies on their dessert menu for patrons to savor and enjoy. Harrison Hotel Group social media manager, Taylor Harman, votes key lime as her favorite. But it seems that the warmed peach pie drizzled with sweet caramel sauce and topped with cold vanilla ice cream has by far been a crowd favorite.
The long term goal is for all four restaurants to offer all four flavors of pie. Currently flavor options vary depending on location, but in all honesty- you can’t go wrong with either flavor! Or maybe just treat yourself and travel around to try all four.
Farmers Market
In addition the Harrison Hotel Group restaurants, Del Vecchio’s pies can also be spotted on Saturday mornings at The Ocean Pines Farmers Market throughout their market months. But you’d have to get their pretty early- they sell out pretty quickly.
