Joseph's Storehouse: San Antonio

One of the stops on our food tour in San Antonio was Joseph's Storehouse Restaurant & Bakery 

located at 3420 N. St. Mary's (phone: 210-737-3430). Joseph's is run by Patrick McCurdy, who we met, a non-denominational pastor, who holds worship services in the restaurant every Sunday between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. I don't know if they serve food during the service, but if they do, I can't think of a better way to go and get fed. It has a little bit of a look like a cafeteria, 

but everything we tried was good, and some things were excellent. In fact, after our sample during the food tour, we went back the next day and got some food for the road. Everything is made fresh daily from scratch, including the flour which is ground daily right before cooking.   We got a little sample of chicken pot pie 

which was full of vegetables and had a nice, comfort taste to it. It would be wonderful on a cold evening. They have wonderful baked goods, 

including fresh rolls, 

pecan sticky cinnamon rolls, 

and pecan praline cookies which I believe we were told were named the best cookie in San Antonio. But the best thing I had was something I'd never heard of before: a kolache, or kolachee as they spelled it. 

They are of Czech origin, originating as a pastry with fruit rimmed by dough. In Texas, there are apparently quite a few restaurants that specialize in kolaches, particularly among Czech Americans. The ones we saw did not have fruit, but rather had vegetables, hash browns, sausage and pork. I ordered a vegetable kolache 

for the road and the bread was kind of doughy, with quite a bit of melted cheese, and all kinds of vegetables plastered all over it, including olives, lettuce, onions, chiles, carrots and mushrooms. It was big, filling, unusual and fantastic. Joseph's is well worth a stop and I would love the kolaches to catch on in California.