The Cornish Pasty, a traditional food from Cornwall in Southwest England, can be traced as far back as the 1200s, when the wives and mothers of tin miners first began crimping the edges of the pasty dough so miners would have something to hold onto while eating on the job.
According to Cornish Pasty Co.’s website, due to arsenic coating everything in the mine, this handle was key, as it could be discarded after the miners finished eating.
Arizonans, on the other hand, seem unable to discard even a scrap of Cornish Pasty Co.’s pasties. The company, which was founded in 2005, first opened in Tempe, AZ. It has only grown since then, with locations now in Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix, and even Las Vegas and Boston.
Dean Thomas, owner of Cornish Pasty Co., recently signed a lease for a first floor, roughly 2,300 square foot retail space on N Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix. The lease starts in June for the space in the Downtown Phoenix Submarket.
If you’ve never sampled a Cornish pasty, now’s your chance—and there’s certainly something for everyone at Cornish Pasty Co. The menu offers a signature, traditional ‘Oggie,’ a steak, potato, onion, and rutabaga pasty; as well as the ‘Bangers and Mash;’ and the ‘All Day English Breakfast.’ You can also find flavors like ‘Eggplant Parmesan,’ ‘Cubano,’ and ‘Lovely Bit a Salmon’—and those are only a few off the expansive menu.
Thomas was unavailable for comment at the time of this article, so check back in for updates on plans for the new Cornish pasty spot.