Picket Fence Cafe serving up memory-making meals in Guttenberg

GUTTENBERG, Iowa (KCRG) - With each jingle of the doorbell at the Picket Fence Cafe comes more people in search of a good lunch and a good piece of pie.

When mother and son, Ann and Will Horstmann, make the 12-hour drive from Tennessee to their farm in Lost Nation, they drive just a little bit farther to Guttenberg. It’s a road trip they say is worth every mile for the pie.

“Oh, incredible. Unmatched,” Will said. “I’ve traveled a lot of places and even a few different countries.”

“Before we even leave Tennessee it’s already decided that we’re coming to Guttenberg,” Ann said.

The cafe and catering company started as a retail space for Jane and Tom Augustyn to sell their own pork and beef. They started the Picket Fence Cafe and Catering in 1997. But, Jane’s talent for crafting up pies and hearty meals started long before that.

“I come from a family of 11, and I was the one in charge of making dinner every day and supper so I did a lot of cooking and making pie,” Jane said.

Jane said the secret to good pies is the secret to being successful at anything.

“The more you make the better you get,” Jane said.

A talent the people of Guttenberg, and the people visiting, get to savor every bite of.

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