Joe Kohler
Owner, Josephs Family Restaurant

I often joke that my love for good food comes from my love of eating.  But really, it comes from the women in my family.  My mother, Janice Kohler, was my biggest influence.  She and my father raised eight children, four boys and four girls, in our White Bear Lake home.  Mom cooked dinner every night.  I liked being in the kitchen and watching her during that time.

She was always doing something creative with food, often experimenting with different ingredients to perfect a dish.

For dinner we had ham, Dad's favorite, at least once a week.  Chicken, roast beef and pot roast also showed up the table often.  We always had two types of vegetables.

My favorite dish from Mom is her brownies, which were just as big a hit outside our home as they were inside.  Whenever anything special was going on, Mom made her brownies.  There were never leftovers.

I loved my Grandmother's recipes too.  In fact, Sara Hall was one of the first pie bakers at my restaurant.  Her pies, including apple, rhubarb custard, and our cream pies are still on Joseph's menu.  So are her soups, such as chicken noodle, cream of mushroom and bean and bacon.