- Miss Robbie Montgomery and her son, Tim Norman
When traveling to “the Lou,” a must-visit is Sweetie Pie’s, the soul food empire founded by Midwest culinary queen Robbie Montgomery. “Miss Robbie” as she is affectionately called is the head of the dynasty, who along with her son and business partner, Tim, attracts celebs and dignitaries such as sports icon and business mogul Magic Johnson, Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique and President Obama when they come to St. Louis.
An original backup singer for Ike and Tina Turner, the former Ikette did session work with Stevie Wonder, Barbara Streisand, Joe Cocker and the Rolling Stones among others. When her singing career came to a sudden end and after moving east, Miss Robbie took her mother’s soul food recipes, passed down through generations and created Sweetie Pie’s.
The family is introduced to viewers in the serie’s premiere. Tim is contemplating the marriage proposal to his pregnant girlfriend, Jenae. After finding the perfect ring, he shares his plans with his family. He later discovers the ring is out of his budget and gets mixed signals from his closest confidantes about whether he’s ready for marriage; his plans just might be put on hold. Meanwhile, Miss Robbie is working out the loan details to open up her third, and largest, Sweetie Pie’s location. The cutest part of it all is that at age 71 and never having married, she is still looking for love. –yvette caslin
The new unscripted series produced by OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” debuts on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 9 p.m. EST/PST.
