CZECH IT OUT!
By Chris Wadsworth
The couple walked into the new American Kolache bakery in Ashburn with serious looks on their faces and a giving off a rather cool demeanor.
“[They] said they were from Texas and had high expectations,” recalled co-owner Alex Stimpson. “After taking some kolaches outside, about five minutes later, they came back in and said we passed the test and they wanted to set up a large catering order for their office.”
Stories like that are music to the ears of Stimpson and his wife, Jing. They knew bringing kolaches – a Czech pastry that is popular in places like Texas and Missouri – to a new audience in Virginia could prove challenging.
“Getting the word out and having people try them will be the key to our success,” Alex said.
Located in the Cameron Chase Village Center shopping plaza by the Ashburn Ice House, the couple’s bakery opened in early November. It’s the first East Coast location for a franchise brand based in the St. Louis area. The Stimpsons traveled to the Midwest to initially sample the pastries.
“Every flavor we tried was delicious,” Alex said. “We took some on the plane with us back home. After we ran out, for the next week or two, we woke up thinking, ‘I could really go for a kolache this morning.’”
Kolaches come in both sweet and savory varieties. The sweet ones are usually open faced – the more traditional style – and feature a baked yeast dough with a fruit or sugary topping like apple pie or raspberry cream cheese. Meanwhile, the savory kolaches are more like an enclosed pocket of dough stuffed with items such as meatballs, sausage and gravy, or Philly cheesesteak.
“They are hearty and have all sorts of comfort food fillings that make them not just delicious, but portable and not messy to eat,” Alex said about the savory versions.
The couple had quite a journey before they opened their American Kolache location. Alex is originally from Vermont. Jing hails from northeastern China and came to the U.S. for graduate school 17 years ago. Today, they live in Willowsford with their three kids, one dog, two cats and a hamster.
Alex continues to work for a local defense contractor, but Jing gave up her job teaching Mandarin Chinese at the U.S. Naval Academy to focus on running the bakery full time.
“I always dreamed of having a bakery when I was young,” she said. “When we were introduced to kolaches, I was genuinely excited. It felt like an opportunity to make that childhood dream come true.”
Nevertheless, that childhood dream comes with a price. Jing has to get up at 2 a.m. each day so she can be at the shop and baking by 3 a.m. One positive though – breakfasts are now a breeze.
“It has honestly made our mornings so much smoother,” Jing said. “My daughter loves the bacon mac and cheese and the meatball kolaches. My son insists on having the Philly cheesesteak one for breakfast. And my youngest prefers a simple egg and cheese. With our hectic mornings, a microwaved kolache with a good balance of protein and carbs has become a real lifesaver for us.”
If things go well with the Ashburn store, the Stimpsons plan to expand and hope to open multiple locations across the region.
“We have grand visions for where we can take American Kolache across Northern Virginia,” Alex said.