I started this post wanting to write a review of my boyfriend's uncle's restaurant, and then stopped to think about it.
I am hardly the most appropriate person to review a restaurant - I have no culinary background, and I certainly tend to be biased. I'm a picky eater, allergies dull my taste buds, and I have no particular hate towards fast food. I do have a rather unique edge that food critiques don't - an absolute lack of experience and perspective.
Five years ago, before I met the Sohocki family, my eating habits were a fine example of everything that is considered to be wrong in America. 95% of my food came in a bag, the other 5% in a box. My favorite food was carbs, any form of them, and I adored anything quick and easy. My family has the same mindset - We always complain about the taste and texture of the 'steam in the bag' microwave veggies but every week they show up again in my freezer, and we complain about them again the next night - but we still eat them.
Gwendolyn's has a concept entirely different than that. The slogan is 'Local, Seasonal, Handmade' and Michael Sohocki uphold all those concepts stringently. Since he is my boyfriend's uncle, I've seen him working himself to the bone over the past year or more to set Gwendolyn's up, even as his extended family scoffed at the concept and suggested ridiculous names. I remember him refusing to name it after himself, citing it as pretentious, and I thought that was awesome. In the end, Gwendolyn's was named after his mother's mother, and the family history is evident in every room. The sink in the bathroom is built into cabinet that I think I remember being in 'The Princess Room' of Grandma Pat Murphy's Corpus house. The portrait of Gwendolyn was done by Grandma Pat herself, and when she came into the opened restaurant for the first time, you could see her eyes shine with pride, both for the display of family history, and for the accomplishments of her son. She sat across from the portrait of her mother and under a picture of her grandparents, and tried to explain to her own grandchildren the concept of genetics, rather unsuccessfully, ad Michael Sohocki's children were around 5 and 3 at the time ( it was right around birthday season, so the ages maybe be off, but somewhat around there).
While Michael seems to have had a number of cultural influences in his personal life, the history of food shines through his plates. They may have fancy french names, but Mike, when I ask, can sum them up in simple terms I am familiar with. 'Pork Chops in a really awesome sauce'. Leafy greens simmered in a type of cheese sauce. Mysterious incantations on the menu are really meals we've been eating all along, but Gwendolyn's prepares them with local meat and produce, and a staff that is incredibly interesting. One of the waiters works at several different restaurants at the same time, but states that for he and his wife, food is their past time. Rather than going out to a movie, they will make a meal and go out to a park for a picnic. I am definitely not part of the target demographic, but each visit unveils something intriguing. For a recent birthday celebration, or whatever gathering it was, I brought a friend along, and as I found myself explaining polenta to a friend I previously considered to be many times more diverse and educated in diet than I am, I realized that Michael Sohocki, and indeed, the entire Sohocki family (and all of the people who fit under that heading for me, be they Sohocki or not) has had an important influence on me and who I am over the past couple of years.
In summary, I was inspired by a dish Michael served of roasted root vegetable. It was delicious, and filled with many things I'd heard of but never seen before. I went to HEB, bought rutabagas, turnips, beets, radishes, - a number of things I knew could taste amazing, but had never been introduced to before. I took them home, and began to chop them for dinner. My mom came home, and had no idea what on earth I was cutting up, and declined to try them, instead eating a bowl of cereal while watching TV. Rather than be discouraged, I took the vegetables to my boyfriend's house, roasted them at 400 degrees with a little bit of butter, salt and pepper, and sat down to enjoy dinner with my boyfriend's family. The food may have still been inorganic and from HEB, but the concept was planted by Michael, and sown by the Sohocki's, and in the end, the idea is the important part that Gwendolyn's is trying to convey to people like me, the general public who wakes up and considers McDonalds a suitable option for breakfast.
I am not the ideal customer for Gwendolyn's, and I have not loved every single dish, and sometimes you can tell that the staff is still working logistics out - sweet tea was a hurdle to overcome - but the concept behind the food polished by a professional chef is something that I believe most people - even average, boring Americans like me will appreciate.
Restaurant Gwendolyn
152 E. Pecan, #100
San Antonio, TX 78205
Directions
Lunch Hours
Monday-Saturday
11:00 AM—2:00 PM
210.222.1849
