Three Potato Salad — The Side Dish Babcia Would’ve Approved

The video went live. Five minutes and forty-two seconds. "Jake Kowalski: The Bay View Brewer Who Cooks Like His Grandmother." I watched it on my phone in the brewery parking lot during my lunch break and felt every emotion simultaneously. There I am, on screen, measuring grain in the brewhouse at dawn. There I am, making pierogi in the employee kitchen, flour on my shirt, talking about Babcia. There I am, saying the thing about love that I was embarrassed about but that the editor kept because it was true. There's the taproom board with my five beers. There's a shot of my apartment kitchen — tiny, messy, Babcia's recipe cards visible on the counter. The video is honest. Unpolished. It looks like a real person's life because it is. No fancy lighting, no background music, just me talking and cooking and occasionally swearing (they bleeped it, thankfully). The response: the video got fifty thousand views in two days. My Instagram jumped to twenty-eight thousand followers. My DMs are overwhelmed. Milwaukee Eats shared it. The brewery shared it. Mom shared it on Facebook with the caption "My son the chef," which is factually incorrect (I'm a brewer) but emotionally accurate. Marcus watched it on his phone in the brewhouse, holding the phone close to his face like a man who refuses to wear reading glasses. When it ended, he put the phone down and said, "You represented the brewery well." From Marcus, this is the Pulitzer Prize. Mrs. Wojcik called. She'd had someone show it to her on their phone (she doesn't have internet). "Jakub," she said, "I saw you on the television machine." I said it was the internet. She said, "Whatever it is, you were good. You looked like a man who knows what he's doing." Pause. "Do you know what you're doing?" I said, "Not really." She said, "Good. That's when the best things happen." Sometimes you build something without knowing you're building it. And then one day you see it from the outside — a video, a number, a stranger's comment — and you realize: oh. This is a thing. This is real.

After watching myself talk about Babcia on a screen fifty thousand times over, I needed to cook something that didn’t require an audience or a bleep button — just a pot, some potatoes, and the kind of muscle memory she built into me before I knew what muscle memory was. Pierogi get the glory, but potatoes were always the heart of her kitchen, and this three-potato salad is the dish I made the night the video dropped, standing in that tiny messy apartment you can spot in the background of the footage, just to feel like myself again. It’s not glamorous, it’s not plated, and Mrs. Wojcik would probably have notes — but it’s honest, which is all any of this has ever been.

Three Potato Salad

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb red potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 tsp salt, plus more for boiling water
• 3 tbsp whole-grain mustard
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 3 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced (optional)

Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes. Place red and Yukon gold potato chunks in a large pot of well-salted cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 12–15 minutes until just fork-tender. In a separate pot, boil the sweet potato chunks for 10–12 minutes until tender but still holding their shape. Do not overcook — they should not be mushy. Drain both pots and spread the potatoes on a sheet pan to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the whole-grain mustard, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, 1 tsp salt, and black pepper until emulsified.
3. Combine. Transfer the cooled potatoes to a large mixing bowl. Add the celery and red onion. Pour the dressing over the top and gently fold everything together, taking care not to break up the sweet potato chunks.
4. Finish and rest. Fold in the fresh parsley. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar as needed. Let the salad rest at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the potatoes to absorb the dressing. Top with sliced hard-boiled eggs if using.
5. Serve. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. The salad keeps well covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before serving for best flavor.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 320mg