Janet Vedda started out making pierogi from her mother’s recipes as a way to help pay expenses when her husband was laid off. Now the tiny family business’ wares are a staple on hundreds of tables across Greater Cleveland.
Brenda Cain/ cleveland.com
BROOKLYN, Ohio – Pierogi is considered Poland’s national dish. But there are many longtime Clevelanders who would argue that the little pockets of deliciousness are also the national dish of Northeast Ohio.
Pierogi are small, semi-circular ‘dumplings’ made of dough and filled with a range of ingredients, which can be sweet, savory or spicy. Many families have recipes for their own, unique version of filling.
National Pierogi Day is celebrated on Oct. 8. In honor of the occasion, we headed to Mom’s Pierogies, which makes and sells frozen pierogies and hot takeout dishes from its shop at 8467 Memphis Ave. in Brooklyn. We wanted to taste test the pierogi on the regular menu and get a feel for what keeps regulars coming back again and again.
The Mom’s Pierogies’ story starts in the early 2000s when owner Janet Vedda was inspired to use her mother Bernice Domaradzki ‘s recipes to make and sell pierogies to family and friends during the holidays. Vedda was looking for a way to help with family expenses after her husband was laid off.
When she pressed her mom for the dough recipe, Vedda says “she gave me her traditional answer of ‘You just take some of this, a little of that…’
“And when I asked her for measurements, she looked at me as if I had three heads,” Vedda said, laughing.
“I didn’t remember making them with mom growing up, so it took me nearly 10 years to truly get the dough right. Then one day, kneading the dough just ‘felt’ like mom’s and I knew I had finally figured it out.”
Mom’s Pierogies opened as a brick-and-mortar shop in August 2018. Vedda, her husband, Jeremy, and Domaradzki make each pierogi by hand, daily, in a tiny shop, which oddly enough, had been a pierogi shop before Vedda leased the space.
While Domaradzki can lay claim to the tender dough that envelops Mom’s Pierogies, many of the featured flavors came from customers seeking a little taste of their childhood.
“We will have customers come in and ask if we ever do this or that because they remember that was what their mom or grandmother would make when they were growing up,” Vedda said. “I tell them I will try and then play with it until it tastes right to me, then have them try them out.
“The greatest reward to me is when someone comes back in and tells me, ‘Wow! That really took me back, thank you so much!’ It’s not that we are just making food, we are making people happy.”
Mom’s Pierogies reputation grew so quickly that Vedda was contacted in 2020 by Netflix, asking to feature the business on its original series “Fresh, Fried and Crispy.”
The menu boasts 21 flavors. Vedda keeps about a dozen of the traditional, and most popular, flavors always on hand. Two to three additional flavors are rotated in and out on a bi-weekly basis. And there are a few annual specialty pierogi that are always in demand each fall.
During the month of October, Vedda features butternut squash, chipotle and bleu cheese pierogi. In November, customers clamor for the annual Thanksgiving pierogi – filled with freshly roasted turkey, stuffing, and a dollop of pan gravy, made by Vedda.
She begins taking pre-orders for the Thanksgiving specialty on Oct. 1, even though regulars start trying to order as early as mid-summer.
In addition to the pierogi, traditional polish dishes pop onto the menu when Vedda is “feeling frisky,” like cabbage rolls, borscht or broccoli cheese soup.
“I want everyone who walks through our doors to feel like they are family, that they have come home and are comfortable and will soon be eating some good, home-cooked food,” she said.
“Sure, business is about making money, but it can also be boring and stressful. For me, it’s more about meeting good people. When a smiling face comes through that door and we get to know a little about them and their families, that is what keeps me sane.
“I’ve met a lot of great people and had some amazing experiences I would not have otherwise had,” Vedda explained. “My shop is about bringing people together and the memories and happiness we can help create. We all need that these days. And what better way to bring people together than over a plate of good food?”
