New Life, New Business

Ukrainian refugee charts a fresh course with San Antonio bakery Pashina

Pastry

BY BRANDON RODRIGUEZ

Despite the sweltering temperatures outside Olmos Park’s recently opened Pashina Pastry, owner Olena Ramanko continues to run its blazing ovens.

Her stoic demeanor makes her appear impervious to the heat as she portions out freshly kneaded dough, prepping for the next day.

“I work alone,” the Ukrainian refugee said, showing a tired smile. “I am a retailer, cashier, baker, everything.”

Indeed, Ramanko said she prefers hot weather to the cold of her former home, Oleshki, a city of 25,000 people in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Like many of the new Ukrainian arrivals in San Antonio, she was displaced by the Russian invasion.

Once portioned, Ramanko will use the dough for Eastern European baked goods such as kolaches, a Czech favorite familiar to Texans, or pelmeni, a specialty of her native land filled with ground meat and potatoes.

The baked goods at Pashina, 250 Hildebrand Ave., stretch beyond the savory options to include honey cake and Kyiv cake, a specialty of Ukraine’s capital. Both are favorites of the Alamo City’s growing Ukrainian community, and Romanko said they’re also finding an audience with sweet-toothed locals. Despite Romanko’s adept hand with yeast, flour and butter, the bakery business is new to her.

Back home, she frequently prepared items such as cakes and pastries as a hobby and also assisted her family in operating three separate businesses — a grocery, a hotel and construction-supply outlet. But launching a new business venture in an unfamiliar country has been tough, especially while learning English at the same time.

Even so, Pashina Pastry is a symbol of her family’s new life in the United States.

In the aftermath of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romanko and her two children — a daughter and a son — joined the millions forcibly displaced from their homes.

She and her children arrived in San Antonio last August after seeking a U.S. sponsor via Facebook. Shortly after her post went live, they received sponsorship from Collin Stone, owner of the San Antonio’s CR Stone Construction, which owns the storefront from which Pashina now operates.

Romanko said she may never be able to return to her home. Following a June 6 attack on a major dam and hydroelectric power station, the Kherson region was submerged underwater.

What’s more, Romanko’s husband Leo and mother Tatiana are still in Ukraine. Her husband was forced to stay due to requirements that men of his age fight the invaders. Leo is believed to be in a Russian prison in Crimea, according to an Expres-News article. Contact with him is intermittent at best.

“I like San Antonio. I like Texas very much. I met a lot of wonderful people. I met a lot of amazing American and Ukrainian friends, and everybody wants to help me,” Romanko said with a smile.

“But I say I’m not a victim. … I am a strong Ukrainian woman. I have to focus on [my new life] in the U.S. because I understood that I will probably not go back to Ukraine.”

News

More than 15 San Antonio java joints — including Curator Coffee, Sunshine Brew SA and Olla Express — will take part in a citywide Coffee Crawl on Saturday, July 1. Tickets available at tinyurl. com/4nzwehap.

Taiwan-based chain 85°C Bakery Café will open a location near Camp Bullis sometime later this year with more details forthcoming. 85cbakerycafe.com.

Longtime Alamo Heights fixture Twin Sisters has closed permanently. The bakery and healthy-leaning eatery had served up lunch and breakfast staples, including its signature sweet potato muffins, since 1981.

Cocktail: The Event will return after a three-year hiatus on Friday, July 21. It will take over San Antonio’s The Espee with a big-top circus theme. 1174 E. Commerce St., sanantoniococktail.com.

The Rill Eatery & Bar will soon open in Boerne’s now-vacant Little Gretel space, bringing “elevated bar food” to the bedroom community north of San Antonio. 518 River Road, instagram.com/ therillboerne.

The Good News Burgers has shuttered its Potranco Road and San Pedro Avenue stores. The chain’s west-of-downtown location and kiosk inside North Star Mall’s food court are still open, however. Multiple locations, thegoodnewsburgers. com.

The San Antonio Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, “Still Brewing Art,” will bring beer aficionados and art lovers together for a pop-up bier garden on Friday, July 14. 200 W. Jones Ave., samuseum.org.

Openings

Palomar Comida is now open in the former El Bosque space near Two Bros. BBQ Market and Clear Light Coffee Co. 12656 West Ave., Building 1, palomarcomida.com.

All-you-can-eat sushi spot Izumi has opened a second location in nearby Schertz, offering the same sushi, sashimi and hibachi as the original San Antonio location. 17323 I-35 North, Suite 102, (210) 332-5322, izumiallyoucaneat.com.

Irish pub Francis Bogside has reopened at St. Paul Square, augmenting its brews, booze and food offerings with brunch and the adjoining wine bar Anne’s 1170 E. Commerce St., (210) 3142994, francisbogside.com.

Brotherly Love

Long-running San Antonio band Snowbyrd drops new album that majestically nails its sunbaked sound

BY MIKE MCMAHAN

Sometimes it takes a while for the pieces to come together just right. The brothers at the core of San Antonio quartet Snowbyrd — Chris and Scott Lutz — have kept eyes on the prize for 20 years.

Their specialty? A blend of classic rock and country that’s simultaneously both and neither. It’s a sunbaked sound that can appeal to fans of anything from Nuggets-era garage rock to mid-period Meat Puppets to ’70s outlaw country.

With its latest LP, The Lagerheadz Suite, Snowbyrd has hit on a mix of quirky-butcatchy tunes and studio wizardry that makes for a great intro to the band —because, let’s be frank, there are still plenty of folks who have been asleep for the two decades it’s been doing its thing.

Snowbyrd will celebrate the release of Lagerheadz with a show at Slab Cinema Art House on Friday, July 7. Ahead, of that, we spoke to all four members of the band about the new recording, their studio process and songwriting.

Turns out much of the work on the album took place sporadically over the past year, and the members adopted a spontaneous recording style not far from that of Nashville session players of yore.

Oftentimes, “the day that we learned the song, we recorded it,” Chris Lutz said.

“[Drummer] Juan [Ramos] and [Bassist] Kris [Zebrowski] came in, and we said, ‘This is the song we’re gonna record today’ and showed them. Six or seven takes, and that’s the basic recording.”

Both Lutz brothers play guitar, though Scott handles supplemental instruments such as pedal steel and keyboards while Chris holds down lead vocals. The siblings have a long history with San Antonio, in various garage rock projects including Dropouts. Scott also has performed as mariachi.

Ramos may be familiar to SA music fans as the drummer for post-punk stalwarts Glorium and Latin groove outfit Sexto Sol. Both he and Zebrowski are permanent members of the band, though Chris Lutz joked “we had gone through like 18 bass players” before settling on the latter.

Taking a spontaneous recording approach can end up with shambolic results if a band doesn’t come armed with strong songs, and fortunately Snowbyrd has catchy songs for days. Lagerheadz’s “Ol’ Beyonder” is a gem, with a vibe reminiscent of the Todd Rundgren classic “Couldn’t I Just Tell You.”

“Bachelors Nightcap” boasts a psychedelic country vibe. Its laid-back roots groove lifts the song gently into the stratosphere, courtesy of a swirling synth effect.

How the songs got to that point came down to plenty of advanced tinkering from the brothers.

For Lagerheadz, Chris Lutz sketched out each song, then presented it to Scott, who made changes, such as transposing its key to best fit Chris’s vocal range and adding supplemental parts.

Chris Lutz’s vocals are assuredly out of step with current pop music trends. No auto-tune here — though he certainly doesn’t shy away from multi-tracking vocals, a trick he thanked David Bowie for.

“Whenever I listen to (Lagerheadz), there’s parts I haven’t heard before,” Chris said. “Subtle stuff. Layering.”

In many musical acts, one member serves as the spokesperson — the face of the group — while the other is the mad genius behind the curtain.

“Scott is the guru,” Chris said. He calls his brother’s work at the mixing desk the “the fifth member of Snowbyrd.”

To that end, Scott Lutz even rolled in a recording of the buzz of a cicada to compliment the main rhythm of the song on “Bachelors.” And, yes, the bug is perfectly in sync with the drum kit.

Scott Lutz works out of his own Mud Creek Studios, also utilized by San Antonio instrumental rockers Nuclear Juarez.

Although the band boasts an abundance of studio chops, it’s not into producing music that can’t be reproduced live, and the members promise that will be evident during its release gig. Harvey McLaughlin, Kitten Mitten and DJ Terry Lengua will open the show.

“There’s a commitment to originality with this band, even though it’s challenging,” Ramos said.

Suggested $5 donation, 6 p.m. Friday, July 7, Slab Cinema Art House, 134 Blue Star, (210) 2129373, slabcinemaarthouse.com.

Reminder:

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

Thursday, June 29