Since 1929, this Colorado family has perfected the cherry pie | Craving Colorado

LYONS • A sweet smell drifts through the sweetest memories of Anthony Lehnert. He’s transported to an old home in the Wisconsin countryside, a converted school house where there always seemed to be a pie in his grandma’s oven.

“You could smell that burnt apple when you woke up,” Lehnert recalls.

Now, you can smell it in his little shop along U.S. 36, nestled in the canyon en route to Estes Park. The apple pie is one delicacy here. But it’s not the most famous being baked at Colorado Cherry Co.

It is, of course, the cherry pie. That was the pie baked to perfection by Grandma Lehnert — for the sweetest of sweet tooths, best enjoyed with a glass of the cherry cider concocted by Grandpa Lehnert.

Those are now the two big sellers of Colorado Cherry Co., which traces its history back to 1929 at that loving abode in the Midwest. Katherine and Oswald Lehnert could never have imagined what their humble stand would become: four marketplaces in Colorado.

“And I assure you, (they) never thought it would be fourth generation,” Anthony says.

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He and his wife, Kristi, oversee the busiest pitstop frequented by tourists of Rocky Mountain National Park, along with the shop inside the Stanley Hotel and the first location to the east, along U.S. 34 in Loveland. Their son, meanwhile, opened a spot last year in Denver’s bustling Berkeley neighborhood.

“It’s a cool legacy that we have,” Elias says.

It’s one he is proud to carry on, like his father and his grandfather before him. Anthony’s dad, Monrico, is the name on the cider today. Monrico blended cherry and apple and sold it in a Loveland cabin after moving to northern Colorado in 1960.

Shaped by his parents, operatic singers who settled in Wisconsin from Germany and Hungary, Monrico taught music. He saw the stand as a way to make money when school was out in the summer. At the time, Loveland was growing cherries like nowhere else in Colorado.

“My dad’s very restless; he couldn’t sit still for two seconds,” Anthony says. “It’s not like he would take months off” after school.

This worried his mom. “She was always telling my dad, ‘You have to slow down and not work so hard,’” Anthony says.

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But Grandma Lehnert worked hard herself. She was baking until the day she died at 93. When she stepped away from the kitchen for one final rest, a pie was in the oven.

Her longevity meant Elias got to know her. He’s reflected on a deeper meaning to the pies people sought as far as Chicago.

“It was her way of welcoming folks,” Elias says. “She was from Hungary and was an immigrant, and I think it was a way for her to connect to culture, especially American culture. It was her desire to connect to a new culture and provide for a family.”

She still provides today — the inspiration for the pies the family keeps simple, with few ingredients in the way of the hearty, flaky crust and the best, straight-from-the-farm fruits they can find.

Grandma and Grandpa Lehnert “started something really great and felt true to who they were and what they were doing,” Kristi says. “We’ve kind of taken it to the next level, but we’re still staying true to who we are.”

Having helped her in-laws at the Loveland store, she was the brains behind the expansion toward Estes Park. While the pies in Loveland are baked remotely, they’re all in-house here along U.S. 36.

This is the shop that represents the evolution of the business. “A taste of the high country,” reads the sign out front, beside another that similarly captures Colorado’s essence: “Yogi Bear eats here.” That’s a nod to the one time a bear broke in and devoured 24 cherry pies and 14 apple pies.

This is the shop creating the closest replicas of Grandma’s desserts at elevation while also serving some foods out of her wheelhouse. While delicious and popular, the bison chili, for one, is a sidestep of family tradition, Kristi knows.

“My son is always saying, ‘Stay in your lane,’” she says.

Stick to pie, Elias says.

“Simple,” he says. “That’s why it’s special.”

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Colorado Cherry Co. pies vary by season and location (Denver, Loveland, Lyons and the Stanley Hotel). They’re baked in-house at the Lyons shop. At last check: cherry, apple, blueberry, cherry streusel, apple bourbon caramel, mixed berry, cherry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake and French silk. Whole pies start at $23, $4.25 for slice.

Also hot, savory pies served in personal tins ($12). The same, signature pie crust keeps a medley of veggies and chicken or bison. Also a family-size chicken pot pie, take and bake only ($25).

Drawn also from the crust recipe, the hand pies ($7) are a convenient, quick breakfast or lunch. The buffalo chicken one is a favorite of Elias Lehnert, who runs the family’s Denver location. Available at last check at the Lyons store: bacon and egg, sausage and egg, pork green chili, ham and swiss and a vegetarian option mixed with curry spices. The bison chili ($8.50 cup) has been another favorite in Lyons.

In Lyons, several jams, jellies, sauces and preserves -available to take home, along with bottles of the specialty black bing cherry cider.