The 28-year-old owner of a pie and mash shop has called for other restaurants to "step into the modern times" in order to stay in business.
Alfie Hack, who became the fourth generation of his family to run Noted Eel and Pie House in High Road, Leytonstone last year, documents the everyday running of the shop on TikTok and Instagram under the profile name That Pie Guy.
He started filming short videos in 2023 before moving on to posts explaining the history of the shop and what goes on behind the scenes.
He has since amassed more than 165,000 followers across both platforms and 5.8 million likes on TikTok.
His most popular video has been viewed 8.6 million times.
“I’d be lying if I said I thought it’d get this big," Alfie said.
“I didn’t think it would open all these new doors to people coming in but once you get that bug and see the positive effects, it’s hard not to carry on."
Alfie believes there is a "misconception" around pie and mash leading some to think it is an out-dated tradition.
He has called for other pie and mash shops around London to follow in his footsteps and adopt some more contemporary techniques to stay afloat.
As well as posting content on social media, Alfie serves apple crumble at Noted Eel & Pie House to appeal to a younger demographic.
He said: “You see articles all the time of pie and mash shops closing down in London – there’s a lot of them.
"I think it’s important to step into the modern times with posting on TikTok or even just offering desserts.
“The shops that are closing down are the ones with maybe an older owner and no kids working there. They don’t know how to do social media or get onto the delivery platforms like Deliveroo.
"I think that’s a really big thing, not even just for pie and mash shops but for all businesses.
“With the old fashioned pie and mash shops, which can be looked at as though they have a specific clientele, they need to keep it modern and hopefully they’ll last for many more years to come.”
Since posting on social media, Alfie said he has seen his customer base expand and diversify.
He said the shop has always been visited by tourists but this has become more frequent in recent years and he believes his videos have encouraged people to try pie, mash and liquor for the first time.
“Pie and mash does have a misconception," he said.
"A lot of people think it’s just for old English couples but I’d say come down to the shop any day of the week and take a look around – you have people from all different walks of life and cultures and ages.
“A lot of people have the misconception that they’ll walk into a pie and mash shop and feel out of place or when they walk in people will turn and look at them.
“Some shops in London are not doing much on social media and probably aren’t as busy and I think that’s one of the biggest reasons.
"I try to push this on social media so people see that anyone can come in and feel welcome and feel at peace with what they need to say and little things like that."
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