Kolaches Gone Wild

New shop I Heart Kolache turns out every kind of kolache imaginable

Kolaches from I Heart Kolache come in a variety of flavors.
Photo courtesy of I Heart Kolache
I Heart Kolache is a new shop in Farmers Branch.
Photo courtesy of I Heart Kolache

A new shop devoted to kolaches, those small, filled rolls of Czech origin, has opened in Farmers Branch with a long list of options, both savory and sweet. I Heart Kolache has every kolache category imaginable: sweets, cheese, meats and fruit.

On the savory side, the menu includes sausage; potato, egg and cheese; turkey with Swiss cheese; and Philly cheese steak. Sweet kolaches come with cream cheese and nine fruit flavors such as peach, strawberry, lemon, apricot, cherry, plum, apple, blueberry and poppy seed.

There is even a "vegetable" category of kolaches, with spinach, bell pepper, squash and Parmesan cheese. There are also croissants, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns and muffins, plus a line of espresso drinks.

The New York Times pronounced kolaches as an up-and-coming trend, calling it "the next-generation doughnut." Although many doughnut shops stock it as a side thing, Dallas has few dedicated kolache shops. Last year, Houston-based Kolache Factory spread its wings north, opening a branch on Coit Road in Plano.

I Heart Kolache is in a space that was previously vacant, which has been finished out with a nice Panera-esque wood and brick decor.

"We opened less than a month ago; we're still getting settled," says manager Yvonne Young. "We start very early in the morning. We open at 6 am. Customers are already waiting for us. They come in on their way to work and get boxes to take into the office."

The recipes are overseen by a veteran baker who Young says has been making kolaches for 20 years but doesn't want to have her own shop. They're considering opening other branches in the area, including Southlake, Denton and downtown Dallas.

"It's intense work and very early morning hours," she says. The shop is currently open until 4 pm but may stay open later in response to requests from neighbors who come home from work and crave a kolache.

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Healthy Eats News

Alabama chain Urban Cookhouse opens first DFW restaurant in Prosper

Urban Cookhouse

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A healthy restaurant chain from Alabama has made its DFW debut: Urban Cookhouse has opened its first outpost in Texas at the Gates of Prosper, a small center at 1151 S. Preston Rd. #10, taking over a former location of Sauce Pizza.

Urban Cookhouse was founded by David and Andrea Snyder, an entrepreneurial couple who opened their first location in Homewood, Alabama in 2010. The chain now has eight other locations in Alabama and one in Tennessee.

The concept has a healthy, homey vibe with a menu featuring more than a dozen sandwiches and wraps, salads, soup, and fork and knife offerings such as pork tenderloin with red chimichuri, lime-marinated steak & rice, and ‘The Down Home’, a BBQ-style plate with smoked turkey, pasta, and broccoli salad, as well as vegetarian options and a kids' menu.

A weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday features a breakfast charcuterie board for $25 with pastries, deviled eggs, yogurt parfait, and bread. There are mimosas, bloody Marys, Micheladas, sangria, beer, and wine by the glass, plus a coffee bar with a signature blend from 1418 Coffee in the works.

There's a whole thing with their orange rolls, one of the three items Urban Cookhouse is best known for (along with their Broccoli Salad and Half-Baked Cookie). It's like an orange version of a cinnamon roll, featuring a yeast roll been smeared with a sweet paste flavored with orange zest, baked, then and topped with a thin orange glaze that hardens as it cools.

Urban Cookhouse serves a complimentary orange roll with its meal-size salads and entrees.

Their other shtick is that they prepare their meats on The Big Green Egg, the dome-shaped ceramic oven favored by many a gourmet home cook.

A portion of the Prosper restaurant is dedicated to a petite market selling sauces, dressings, chicken salad, broccoli salad, the signature orange rolls, spiced pecan, honey and pickles and cheddar pasta to-go. Family-style meals are also available for pick up after 3 pm.

Bringing the concept to Frisco is James Zemlock who has 30 years of culinary and management with Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, The Capital Grille and Tommy Bahama.

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