Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
“The next big thing in pastries”—kolache, the sweet, Central European stuffed pastry—also happens to be the one baked good Bon Appetit’s Andrew Knowlton “will stand in line for.” St. Louis has only one kolache shop, which gave Russ Clark one brilliantly logical idea: to open a locally-owned store, St. Louis Kolache, with a myriad of options (hot pastrami and swiss, anyone?). Come late September, that aroma at the corner of Lindbergh and Baur Blvd might just be the sweet smell of success.
At what age did you get your start in the restaurant business?
When I was a kid in Florida, my grandfather sold lobsters and seafood…so at age 8, I became an after-school fish monger. We moved to St. Louis when I was a teenager and I ended up at Al Baker’s, where I waited on people like Tom Selleck, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Kid Rock, the Eagles, the Beach Boys, and the prince of Saudi Arabia, when he came in to buy 60 jets from Boeing.
What was the best thing you learned at Al Baker’s?
From Al Baker’s on, it was customer service. If you have great food but rotten service, the customer will remember the service, not the food. Employees that don’t care will ruin your business.
Where else did you go?
My longest stint was 10 years at Morton’s. A fellow server there—my now partner Bart Mantia—and I dreamed of opening a steakhouse, but we didn’t have the money. One of Bart’s call parties was the owner of Cecil Whitaker’s Pizza, so we went that more affordable route, eventually owning four stores. We also own Total Catering St. Louis, which we run out of the CW’s in Bridgeton, where we do full pans of pasta and salads, to box lunches, smokehouse pork items, StL style ribs, half chickens, smoked mac and cheese, brisket, even whole hogs.
So why kolaches?
They’re very popular in Texas, just starting to appear on the coasts, and only place specializing in them here and it does well. Bon Appetit magazine called kolaches one of the foods that everyone will be craving in 2015. I was not familiar with them, but once I tasted one, I thought, “holy crap, these things are pretty good.”
What’s the biggest selling point?
They’re grab-and-go, one-handed road food, ideal for eating in the car or while walking. It’s like a little Hawaiian sweet bread sandwich, stuffed with all sorts of goodies.
Talk about the ingredients.
Some sweet, some savory. There’s a reuben, hot pastrami and swiss, fresh spinach and mushroom with pesto, philly cheese steak, a bacon cheddar burger, pulled pork and our brisket we make ourselves, Italian pizza with sausage, a St. Louis-based brat… Kolaches with different binding sauces, including hollandaise. Higher-end offerings, like and salmon, caper, and cream cheese… Then again, we’ll have a slinger kolache, too—with chili, hash browns, and eggs. A Sloppy Joe version is not out of the question. We’re planning a “srirache kolache.” And maybe something crazy like Nutella, banana, and bacon….
Describe the décor.
Since we didn’t have to deal with an expensive [fire-suppression] hood, we could splurge on other things, like a light bamboo floor and yellow and dark tigerwood on the walls. We’ll have 12 – 16 seats and over 30 different kinds of kolache.
Some say that kolaches are too doughy.
A proper kolache requires a proper dough recipe and a baker who knows how to implement it, day in and day out. We’ve got that problem solved.
How about a food truck?
Down the line, absolutely, especially since there’s no on-board cooking involved. The truck would go out appropriately loaded.
Will your shop sell anything else besides kolache?
Kolache dough makes a great cinnamon roll—which we’ll do—but our emphasis will be on kolache. And great coffee—from Kaldi’s.
Will there be specials? Seasonals? What tricks do you have up your sleeve?
Seasonals for sure. Maybe accept votes for a kolache of the month, which would be named after the person who suggested it.
Does delivery or catering make sense?
No delivery, unless it’s a big order. And no drive through, because the site isn’t big enough. But we will do catering, especially because we can pair that with what we do at Total Catering St. Louis.
Do kolaches hold over until the next day?
No, leftover product gets donated either to local police and firefighters, or to a local charity or food pantry.
Any different way to finish a kolache? They all look the same.
Normally, we just brush them with butter. Powdered sugar is an option, I guess, but that ends up all over your clothes. We’re experimenting with using things like orange or lemon zest, unexpected add-ons that will pick-up the flavor.
Do you have any specific marketing ideas for kolaches?
Besides social media, I’d like to get a professional athlete as spokesperson. Look what Adam Wainwright has done for Pappy’s recognition.
Is there a gluten-free kolache?
Maybe down the road.
Are you worried kolaches could be a fad?
No. People are increasingly in a hurry for breakfast and lunch, they want it served fast, and everyone appreciates good coffee. With three registers, we’ll make that happen in 3 or 4 minutes, and with fresh product, unlike other fast food.
Why not just do something more established—and safer—like burgers, pizza, or barbecue?
Too many moving parts. Long hours. Lots of competition. If you can reduce any one of those, you should. Our hours are 6 to 2, 7 days a week. Unlike pizzas, there are no substitutions, extra cheese, extra well done, or oddball “half this, half that” orders. I’m looking forward to that. Kolaches are what they are.
Ok, then, why not just buy a kolache franchise?
Doing so locks you into a system, which is fine for a novice. I’m in a position where I feel comfortable improving something like a kolache franchise. And I don’t want to be forced to buy what I feel are substandard ingredients. St. Louis is blessed with great chefs and great independent restaurants. I want in on that.
What part of the business intrigues you the most?
Developing new concepts. My wife says, “Stop with the ideas!” Two of my no-fail favorites involve a twist on barbeque, and fish.
Do you have a five-year plan? Outside the metro area? Other states? Other worlds?
There’s room for growth here. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to build a small company around five or eight kolache stores. [Then Clark’s eyebrows went up and he broke into a big grin.]
