THE GREAT KOLACHY HUNT

[MarkG]

we just lost Blackey's Bakery in Nordeast Minneapolis, a major kolachy source. any other kolachy bakers in the Twin Cities or anywhere in Minnesota or ANYWHERE IN THE MIDWEST???

[stymie]

my slovak gramma made something special for Christmas. Byerlies poppy seed kolachies come pretty close.

[Gastron]

Franke's (kolachy) bakery in Montgomery MN is frozen in the 1940's.High back wooden art deco booths,and old Coke clock on the wall,slanted glass bakery cases full of yeasty goodness...and you may get a chance to chat with Mr. Franke himself,who was born before bread was sliced.

Its worth the trip-buy some to freeze.Stop at Chester Retka's little 3.2 bar a few blocks north at lunch hour for homemade soup and a cheap tap beer...

[chrisinroch]

Describe your ideal version of the kolachy. I've seen wildly different versions of them from a small fruit turnover type thing to a raised bun with fruit filling.

BTW, our family always pronounced it ko-lotch-key. Anybody else?

[golney]

Try the bakeries of Wahoo, Nebraska, and teh Czech fest in Wilber NE. Also real Kolache in the towns of West, and Ennis Texas.

[Johnny Rotten]

Kolaches were always a staple at The Wahoo Bakery in Wahoo, NE, though I haven't been there personally in a while, and I think the owner retired in recent years and passed the torch. Their other offerings were fab as well. Grab some Wahoo Wieners while you're in town, too. You won't be disappointed. Unless you don't like wieners.

[golney]

Hmm Wahoo Weiners arent the real thing anymore. They used to be made by the OK Market (Beranek's) and the recipe was sold to someone else. These arent too bad though...

[Johnny Rotten]

Yeah, the Beraneks' days were the best, hands down, but I still enjoyed the wieners beyond then. Last time I was in town I saw it was closed. :-(

[crazycook]

And, since you were near enough to go to Blackey's, you're not far from Kramarczuk's (yes, the (best) sausage/meat shop) and they have kolachy's... I can't vouch for them but guessing from the quality of the majority of their bakery items, they can't be bad. If you're there, be sure to pick up their brat buns (egg bread dough - the best) and, of course, some sausage.

[joypirate]

There are plenty in Nebraska, around South Omaha. Cream cheese and poppyseed are my favorite. I'd usually get mine at an annual Czech church festival but I know some places have them regularly. I just saw the Wheatfield's menu and they have some (though I haven't tried them so I can't rate them against the church ladies).

[joypirate]

Told you there were lots of kolaches in my home state:

http://www.ifoce.com/contests.php?act...

[St Paul Susie]

St Paul - Randolf ave.... pj murphys bakery has decent sweet/apricot ones.... Haven't specifically had a kolachky in years but the rest of their items are much better than average.

[NancyH]

Believe it or not, the bakery operation at Carrie Cerino's restaurant just south of Cleveland makes Kolachky that my Bohemian husband gives a full stamp of approval to! www.carriecerinos.com - I think they will ship.

[teamkitty]

My faves are the apricot variety at Jeribek's New Bohemian Bakery in St. Paul. These are the briochey kind, rather than the flatter sort. If you need more than a few - they are snapped up quickly - then you should definitely call in an order the day before. I've had some fine ones in Protovin, IA as well.

[repete]

Well in late July every year you can get them at Kolache Days in Montgomery, Minn.

[Paz]

When I was a kid we used to get kolaches at Simon's Market in New Prague.

If you can't find a good a good kolache in NP then we are all in trouble.

[Doug]

There is a Kolachy Factory in Brentwood, Missouri, just west of St. Louis.

[p.j.]

I would not recommend the Kolachy Factory to anyone. I took my daughter there a few months ago for lunch. We wound up throwing away 1/2 of our food, and going up the road to the St. Louis Bread Company for something to eat.
Please note that we did order the non-meat Kolachys, potato and egg & potato, I think. They were horrible.

[AnneInMpls]

Blackey's is gone! Oh, woe! I'm weeping and tearing my hair as I type this. It's all Mr. Tastebud's fault - he used to go there every week to get treats for work, but he stopped six months ago (coincidentally, exactly when he started a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet).

But when Mr. Tastebud saw the pastries at the Scandinavian booth in the Midtown Global Market, he stated that they looked exactly like those from Blackey's. (I seem to be married to a man who can identify the source of any baked good in the Twin Cities, despite his diet!) So, either the baker is working for them, or Blackey's sold the recipes. No kolaches, though - I guess they're not Scandinavian.

Dare we hope that the kolaches survived?

Anne

[42duffy]

if you're this far east...There's an excellent Kolache Bakery in Beaver, Pa. fairly close to Ohio border, north west of Pittsburgh!

[bluesman13]

ok, I'll ask.

What the heck is a kolace? (and is it available on a stick?)

[Katie Nell]

No stick! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolache

[KTFoley]

There is a kolache-as-fast-food joint in the suburbs:

Kolache Factory
5711 Xerxes Ave N.
Brooklyn Center MN 55430
763-566-3545

But they're just so-so. I believe I remember having some nice ones at the French Meadow bakery, maybe?

[Katie Nell]

The Kolache Factory here in Overland Park, KS is just terrible! They are not at all like the ones my Polish baby-sitter used to make!

[amyzan]

Katie, I don't know if you saw this already in the Food section of the KCStar last week, but a bakery that makes kolache and bierocks, etc. has opened up in Shawnee. It's called Barb's, on the commercial road that runs between Hilltop Drive and Monticello north off SMP out near K-7, which is probably a good drive for you, but maybe worth it? (Dillon's is the anchor store in the shopping center.) Unfortunately, they're only open until 1 pm, and they only make enough that they intend to sell out, so they recommend calling ahead in the morning and having an order held. I haven't been yet, but am hoping to go before 2008 begins...will report back.

ETA: I should add this is Shawnee, KS for any Minnesotans reading, sorry.

[GiGiWy]

I wrote about Barb's under "KC - croissants for Christmas" and again today.

[The Dairy Queen]

There's this reply in the one dish wonder thread:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

~TDQ