The best ideas come to light when something is missing. Three Polish women living in the U.S.—Asia, Izabela and Margie—missed their family, friends, and the food they grew up with. Asia had always cooked. When she was in her teens, she used to prepare meals for her siblings. At 12, she made her first sour cucumber preserve, a Polish delicacy. As a young adult, she attended business school and got a degree, but she always was drawn to great food, and worked as a waitress in Poland, a sous chef in Germany and a pizzamaker in Canada. No matter what, she wanted the food she made or served to be fresh and tasty. Izabela’s motto was always: “I cook because my family needs healthy food, but I bake because I love it.” Her bread-baking adventures started when she moved to Texas and missed the taste and smell of the fresh bread she used to get in Europe. The years she spent in Poland and Germany shaped her culinary approach. When Asia and Izabela met, it was only a matter of time before they decided to transfer their love of food into a culinary business, Apolonia Catering. Margie has been friends with Asia for many years, and when Apolonia was getting started, Margie jumped right in to help. The most important thing she enriched the company with was her expert presentation skills. Asia, Margie and Izabela are different, but they all have the same culinary expectations: The food has to be fresh, natural, sourced locally when possible, and most importantly, it has to taste like home. The ladies at Apolonia have a lot of dishes on their menu, but the closest to their hearts are Polish Pierogi, soft dumplings with fillings like homemade farmer’s cheese or Texas-inspired sweet potato with chipotle. Their dream is to open a Pierogarnia, a Polish Pierogi café.