Month: January 2020

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Donut Papi (Sydney, AUS)

For many, traveling is an incredible opportunity to see new parts of the world. You can explore cities, the museums, beaches, parks, and immerse yourself in the culture. For some, it’s also an opportunity to try the local cuisine and in my case, that means donuts. Last winter, I took some time off of work and ventured throughout the Eastern Hemisphere in search of donuts and records. The first stop along my journey was to Sydney Australia where I discovered Donut Papi, homemade donuts with classic and original flavors. Their shop is a quant little spot located on a not too busy corner in Redfern. A small glass case has the daily offerings and a few tables allow for a quick stop to munch down on these light and flakey treats. When I popped by the shop, I indulged in a Maple Bacon and Chocolate Hazelnut and I still stand by my claim that they’re some of the best I’ve ever had.

Last week, Donut Papi appeared on my Instagram promoting a tour through New York where they were tasting the best my city has to offer. Naturally, I reached out to Kenneth to get his take on his trip to NYC and the story behind Donut Papi.

How did Donut Papi get started? What’s the story?
I started Donut Papi in 2015 as a hobby and started selling them to my colleagues and eventually got into markets and food festivals. My siblings always helps me, but my sister is very supportive and dedicated on helping me and eventually asked her if she wanted to be my business partner. From outgrowing our home kitchen, we found a commercial shared kitchen and worked there for almost two years and as we got busy with the markets, the kitchen got busier too and we found ourselves looking for a kitchen of our own. We decided to open a shop front as well with it and we are very happy with our decision. 

How long has the store been around?
Going three years this October!

Why did you come to New York? What inspired your trip?
Before I started the shop, I follow bakeries and doughnut shops with strong social media presence, products and branding for inspirations. Most of them are in New York and I always wanted to check out if there are any difference with Sydney donuts to New York ones. 

What were the stops and donuts you tried while you were here? What were your favorites?
Our donut stops are:
– Dough
– Doughnut Plant
– Doughnut Project
– Donut Pub
– Dun-Well Doughnuts
– Du’s Donuts
– Peter Pan’s Pastry and Donuts
– Alimama (mochi donuts)
– The Dough Club (mochi donuts)
– Doughnuttery

Non-donut shops but with donut specialities:
– Daily Provisions (cruller)
– Supermoon Bakehouse

My top favourites are:
– Daily provisions’ cruller
– Dough: Hibiscus and Apple Cider cake donut
– Supermoon Bakehouse: Honey and Lavender donut
– Dun-Well Donuts: Lemon and Rosemary glaze

How did you like New York vs Sydney?
New York is a very busy city and very much alive. Sydney’s city life is different. We are surrounded by these beautiful beaches and if the weather is great, most likely you would find more people there than in the city. On the other hand, New York’s offering is very broad and seems like it won’t be enough time to explore everything (and it’s never enough!) I love NY’s Art, food, music scene and would love to live there one day! That would be the goal.

If you find yourself in Sydney, don’t miss out!

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MAD Donuts: Frosty Flakes and Maple Bacon

As Jason mentioned back in November, MAD Donuts is a hot new spot in Westchester Mall serving up some of the best donuts in the tri-state area outside of the five boroughs and like many other places, with a new year and season comes their new menu.

This weekend, I made the trip out of the city and went to visit Jason in Westchester so we could try out some of the new items on the menu. Funnily enough, despite our love and constant conversation over the sweet treats, it’s not often we’re actually eating donuts together. I went for the Frosty Flakes and Maple Bacon and Jason went with the classic Cinnamon Sugar and Apple Fritter. While Jason’s were truly delectable and the Apple Fritter does indeed live up to the hype, the Frosty Flakes was my highlight of the day. These are yeast donuts so they’re quite large in size and powerful in flavor. The texture is pretty think for yeast and not so light and fluffy, but that is not a problem. The icing was the standout for me on this guy. Instead of a basic sugary vanilla coating with Frosted Flakes cereal on top, the brains at MAD Donuts made a cereal milk icing which really elevates the flavor and makes it just sweet enough and gives an incredible balance to the crunchy pieces of cereal.

The Maple Bacon is another great gem on their menu, albeit a bit more inline with others you can find around the area. The sweet maple is quite generously poured over the donut and the tiny bacon bits add just the right amount of chewy texture without it becoming the main focus. The icing was like a sheet and broke off in chunks which made getting all the flavors in one bit a slight challenge, but a rewarding one at that.

Frosty Flakes: 9/10
Maple Bacon: 8/10

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Doughnut Project: Manhattan Cream

As I mentioned in my recent post, growing up in Massachusetts meant I was a Dunkin’ Donuts loyalist and my donut of choice was (and still is when I return to the suburbs) a Boston Creme. Lucky for me, New York City’s Doughnut Project has updated their daily menu in 2020 to include their take on the classic, the lovely Manhattan Cream.

First thing to note about this donut, aside from the name, nothing here differs from the classic. The Doughnut Project (TDP) specializes in wonderful yeast creations with fresh, flakey pastries and delectable flavors that truly enhance their donuts and take them to another level. Often known for their extreme collaborations, TDP doesn’t shy away from radical ideas, but often succeed with their standard daily menu which is their own unique, but subtle twists on classics. For the Manhattan Cream, they do a simple yeast donut covered in chocolate ganache and a vanilla custard filling. Everything about this donut felt perfect to me. The dough itself was insanely fresh and perfectly chewy, the chocolate never melted on to my fingers and was impeccably sweet, but not overpowering, and the custard was phenomenal. The vanilla was vibrant and gooey, but not overstuffed.

Also, unlike some of the other yeast varieties around the city, this one is not massive in size so eating one (especially with the filling) doesn’t feel like such an undertaking. As one of a few new options, this truly feels like a worthy addition to their expanding daily offerings.

Score: 10/10