The best savory pastry you’ve never heard of has finally arrived in SF

They’re soft and delicious. They’re stuffed with fillings like egg and cheese or bacon and jalapeños. And they may be the best savory pastry you’ve never heard of. 

They’re called kolaches (“koh-LOTCH-eeze”), and they're a buttery cross between Chinese bao and a Hot Pocket made from a yeasted, pillowy dough. Hailing from Central Europe, they’re hugely popular in Texas and the Midwest but virtually unheard of in the Bay Area. 

Until now. Kalaches, the first dedicated kolache shop in the city, opened Monday on Brannan Street in SoMa — and, to whet San Franciscans’ appetite for the largely unfamiliar treat, its owners gave some away at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Robinson “Robi” Paz is a Peruvian American software engineer who timed his vacation from his day job to work in this new kitchen. He’s getting the ball rolling over the next two weeks before handing things over to his wife, Katya Kalashnikova, who hails from Ukraine. (“Kalaches” plays on both the word “kolaches” and her surname.) The shop, their first foray into the food industry, grew out of Paz’s habit of passing a kolache shop every day on his way to school in Utah. The doughy snacks became part of his morning routine, but upon relocating to California, he couldn’t get his fix. 

“Kolaches are very wholesome, a fast food that gives you lots of protein,” Paz says. “But for two years, we couldn’t find anything like them.”

Kalaches sells approximately nine savory varieties, including sausage, egg, and cheese; bacon, jalapeno, egg, and cheese; and Philly cheesesteak. Each fist-sized pastry costs $7, which may seem expensive to anyone used to paying about $5 in Austin — call it the San Francisco tax. There are also sweet options, combining fruits and berries with Nutella or cream cheese. With toppings rather than fillings, these sweet versions are true to kolaches’ Czech origins as hand pies. 

To pique interest, the first 50 customers each day this week will get a prize such as a tote bag or — on Thursday — sweet kolaches. On Friday, the shop will offer a buy one, get one free deal. 

While San Francisco has plenty of Russian bakeries and Eastern European specialty shops, Paz has the advantage of cornering the market — at least for now. 

Is there any other business in the Bay Area focusing on kolaches? “I haven’t found any,” he says.