A pastry cook, a real estate agent, and one very stubborn rolling pin.

Matt started out as a pastry cook at fifteen. He left the industry, spent twelve-plus years selling houses around the Hunter, and one day decided he'd rather be elbow-deep in shortcrust than answering a phone about property inspections. He and Kylie opened Pie Hole in 2020.

It was, by most measures, a terrible time to open a shop. Lockdowns, supply chaos, the lot. But the pies were good, the locals showed up, and the line out the door started to be a regular thing.

Four years on, there are two shops — one on Wollombi Rd in Cessnock where it all started, and a second on Wine Country Drive in Nulkaba, catching the Hunter Valley traffic on its way to the vineyards. Everything still comes out of the oven on-site, still handmade, still never served in a foil tray.

If you've been wondering what all the fuss is about, pull in. Matt or Kylie will probably be behind the counter.