Category: Artisans

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Donut Princess Re-dough-fines The Bouquet

Donut Princess - Foodzooka Splat Feature

For those die-hard donut lovers who can’t help but cradle a box close enough to sniff out which flavors mingle inside, the donut bouquet was made for you.

This creative repackaging of a typical box of donuts comes from Mayly Tao, a local pastry pioneer and co-owner of DK’s Donuts & Bakery in Santa Monica who recently launched her own donut delivery and catering service that borrows her nickname, Donut Princess.

Tao’s donut bouquets are carefully arranged in a manner loosely resembling their floral counterparts. Three or more decorated donuts are placed atop long-stemmed sticks, nestled in a colorful bed of neatly crumpled paper, wrapped in a burlap cloth, and tied together with a delicate bow. The bundle is then bejeweled with a custom Donut Princess logo pin and sealed in a fanciful gift box with velvet ribbons. You can also include a message for a more personal touch.

Donut Princess - Valentine's Day Bouquet (Foodzooka)
Donut Princess – Valentine’s Day Bouquet (Foodzooka)

Donuts for the bouquets are chosen to create an explosion of colors and tastes. A typical arrangement includes flavors such as white chocolate, cream cheese frosting, blue velvet, red velvet, dark chocolate ganache, passion fruit jelly, and raspberry cheesecake.

“The donut was originally just a breakfast food,” said Tao, regarding the pastry’s evolution. “Now, it’s treated as a gift item.”

Tao saw an opportunity to meet growing demand for unique food gifts in LA, and donut bouquets seemed like the next logical step for her business. “You can create a conversation about this donut bouquet,” said Tao, acknowledging that its charmingly edible presentation makes it a more shareable, social experience than receiving flowers.

“I love getting roses, every girl does,” she said. “But to receive flowers in a different form that involves food? That also appeals to a girl.”

Donut Princess - Mayly Tao (@jess.t.johnston)
Donut Princess – Mayly Tao (@jess.t.johnston)

The Donut Princess moniker reflects Tao’s familial ties to local donut royalty. Her great uncle, Ted Ngoy, earned the nickname Doughnut King of California in the ‘80s for acquiring dozens of shops throughout the state. As a Cambodian immigrant with a growing empire, he was able to bring on relatives and employ refugee families that fled to the United States to escape the Khmer Rouge violence. Tao’s parents started running the Santa Monica location of DK’s Donuts & Bakery in 1980 and turned it into a success. Tao remembers standing on a milk crate to assist her parents in the shop when she was seven years old.

“Instead of watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, I was with them in the shop,” she said.

Donut Princess - DK's Donuts (Foodzooka)
Donut Princess – DK’s Donuts (Foodzooka)

After graduating from University of California San Diego in 2012 with a degree in communications, Tao returned to DK’s with a goal to reinvent the bakery for an age of insatiable Instagram foodies actively seeking out the next dessert icon.

DK’s Donuts & Bakery made local and national headlines for being the first West Coast shop to create its own donut-croissant hybrid, which they now call the O-nut. Other hits that followed include the purple-colored Ube Donut, a waffle-donut hybrid called the Wow-nut, and the Galaxy Donut, which resembles a photo of deep space with the help of some cosmic-colored icing.

“I’m here showing that donuts are not outdated,” she said. “Donuts are cool!”

Donut Princess (courtesy) - Galactic Donuts
Donut Princess (courtesy) – Galactic Donuts

Tao started Donut Princess LA in 2017 to bring more tailored options to the vast population of donut aficionados. In addition to bouquets, her company assembles stylishly packaged curated boxes and designs letter-shaped donuts to spell out custom greetings such as “happy birthday.” Donut Princess also caters corporate events, weddings, and most recently, special menus at local microbreweries.

“Pairing beer with donuts is popular now,” said Tao. She predicts that the next stage in this trend could bring the start of donut and wine pairing parties, so she’s developing a cheese flavored donut just in case.

Donut Princess (courtesy) - Avocadokale
Donut Princess (courtesy) – Avocadokale

Donut Princess bouquets can be ordered online or by phone at 323-675-6001. Bouquet options include the classic trio ($20), six donuts ($35), mini donuts ($35), a six-donut Valentine’s Day bouquet ($45), and custom built bouquets (price varies). Bouquets can be delivered locally the same day for an extra charge or picked up at the Donut Princess kitchen facility near downtown Los Angeles (1842 W. Washington Blvd.). For orders outside of Los Angeles, Donut Princess can also ship nationwide overnight.

Donut Princess - Classic Trio Bouquet (@lifeonaplate_)
Donut Princess – Classic Trio Bouquet (@lifeonaplate_)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find the Donut Princess website and follow them on social media.

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Pick A Peck Of Coldwater Canyon Provisions

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Foodzooka Splat Feature

How do you supercharge the flavors of fresh fruits and vegetables? Pack ‘em into jars! Coldwater Canyon Provisions accomplishes this feat with award-winning results among its dozens of jarred jams, jellies, chutneys and pickles.

While owner Rondo Mieczkowski offers many of the classics at Los Angeles farmers markets, he also features some varieties you’ve probably never heard of, such as kiwi jam, red guava butter, tarragon cherries, and pickled crab apples.

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Owner Rondo Mieczkowski (Foodzooka)
Coldwater Canyon Provisions – Owner Rondo Mieczkowski (Foodzooka)

Rondo learned how to preserve foods from his grandmother while growing up in Ohio and Michigan. Pickled watermelon rind particularly brings back memories.

“It was something my grandmother would make in the summer, and we couldn’t touch it until Thanksgiving,” Rondo said. He remembers how well it paired with turkey, mashed potatoes, and other starchy foods. “It revitalized the palate.”

Though his grandmother’s craft for food preservation was a necessity in times of scarcity, Rondo absorbed her sense of resourcefulness. Even with the abundance of foods available today, some heirloom fruits and vegetables are hard to find and enjoy at their peak ripeness. Coldwater Canyon Provisions captures that experience in jars.

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Sweet Red Pepper Jelly samples (Foodzooka)
Coldwater Canyon Provisions – Sweet Red Pepper Jelly samples (Foodzooka)

Customers at farmers markets are often looking for tastes that remind them of holidays, picnics, and other good times, and with the right ingredients, Rondo can get pretty close. “It’s like we’re selling memories on some level,” he said.

Rondo’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Most recently, Coldwater Canyon’s Habanero Jelly placed third in last year’s World Hot Sauce Awards condiments division of hot/x-hot jam/jelly. In both 2017 and 2013, his Tarragon Cherries won the national Good Food Award, which recognizes authentic, responsibly produced food with sustainable ingredients. The pickled Spiced Crab Apples were also nominated for the Good Food Award in 2012.

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Good Food Award winners (Foodzooka)
Coldwater Canyon Provisions – Good Food Award winners (Foodzooka)

The catalyst for starting a business occurred at the 2010 California State Fair, when his Strawberry Rhubarb Jam won the category for “Best In Show – All Jams and Jellies.” At that point, Rondo and his late partner Danny Barillaro had yet to sell anything at the markets.

“We were just having fun,” he said, “and we thought, ‘Why don’t we enter state?’”

Eight years later, Rondo still enjoys submerging fruit and vegetables in vinegar and pulverizing foods into jams and spreads. He especially likes discovering rare heirloom foods — such as baba raspberries, Pakistani mulberries, Elberta peaches — even if they only yield a few jars.

“Peel it, chop it, jam it,” Rondo recited as his motto as he realized, “I should put that on a t-shirt.”

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Pickled Okra (Foodzooka)
Coldwater Canyon Provisions – Pickled Okra (Foodzooka)

When you finish off a jar of pickles, Rondo suggests saving the juice to put to good use as a marinade for meats, a vinegar for salads, or even drink it like “an old-fashioned Gatorade.”

Rondo uses fresh organic or responsibly grown California produce from the farmers markets, making all of his products vegan and gluten-free. He sources from Mud Creek Ranch for oranges, McFarlin Family Farms for pomegranate juice, Chuy’s Berry Farm for blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, and J&J Produce for strawberries. He then prepares and cooks each batch at the Chefs Center of California, a shared rental kitchen in Pasadena for food entrepreneurs.

In keeping with his support of the local community, he also donates proceeds to Under the Bridges and On the Streets, a Los Angeles County nonprofit program that brings sack lunches to the homeless.

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Pickled varieties (Foodzooka)
Coldwater Canyon Provisions – Pickled varieties (Foodzooka)

Coldwater Canyon Provisions are available at five farmers markets in the Los Angeles area: Altadena (Wednesdays), Westwood Village (Thursdays), Playa Vista (Saturdays), Studio City (Sundays), and Hollywood (Sundays). Bon Vivant Market & Cafe in Atwater Village carries a variety as well, or you can order jars online from their Etsy shop.

Most jars of pickles and jam at the markets range from $8 to $12, with package discounts available: buy three jams for $29 or get $5 off a purchase of four items.

Rondo highly recommends them as gifts, wittily remarking, “Nothing says I love you like a jar of pickles.”

Coldwater Canyon Provisions - Jam gift packs (Foodzooka)
Coldwater Canyon Provisions – Jam gift packs (Foodzooka)

Click the Foodzooka profile below and follow Coldwater Canyon Provisions on social media for more information and updates.

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For Dami’s Famous Foods, It’s Always Chili In LA

Dami's Famous Foods - Foodzooka Splat Feature

When the temperature swings in Los Angeles have you debating if you’re craving soup or summer barbecue, the answer is probably chili.

“Chili is a year-round food that warms your heart and comforts your soul,” said Damien Pierre, owner of Dami’s Famous Foods. “With all the transplants from all over the United States, LA is a chili town.”

As a self-taught cook who prefers to be called a “food connoisseur,” Damien offers his take on the classic comfort food every weekend at the Brentwood Farmers Market (Sundays). When you visit the booth for Dami’s Famous Foods, he’ll greet you with a smile and ladle in hand, happy to serve a sampling of his chili and cornbread.

Dami's Famous Foods - Damien Pierre at Marina Del Rey Farmers Market (courtesy)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Damien Pierre at Marina Del Rey Farmers Market (courtesy)

His three chili varieties include vegetarian, turkey, and spicy bison; all with a bean-to-meat ratio that heavily favors the protein. The texture is chunky enough to feel satisfying, but smooth enough to work as a topping on burgers, hot dogs, or omelets. Every variety has a spicy heat that won’t set your mouth on fire, but makes each bite more addictive.

“My style of cuisine came from my background. I’m Caribbean-American. Caribbean cuisine has a lot of spices, herbs, and flavor,” Damien said. “We like things spicy.”

Dami's Famous Foods - Turkey chili (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Turkey chili (Foodzooka)

To pair with your choice of chili, Dami’s Famous Foods offers three kinds of cornbread: buttermilk, bacon jalapeno, and sweet corn. All are comfortingly moist and buttery with the kind of crumbly firmness that lets you wipe up the last licks of chili from your bowl.

Dami's Famous Foods - Cornbread (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Cornbread (Foodzooka)

Part of the secret to the chili’s tomato base is Damien’s own brand of barbecue sauce, made with natural ingredients. He also sells this separately at the markets in bottles labeled as Dami’s Famous BBQ Sauce.

“The inspiration for my barbecue sauce was my grandmother, Cyrilla Pierre. She believed in all of my food creations and taught me a lot about cooking and food as a whole,” he said. “She was the first person who tried my barbecue sauce the first time I ever made it from scratch. She loved it!”

Damien describes his sauce as Kansas City meets Memphis style barbecue, resulting in a flavor profile that’s thick and sweet, but also tangy. He considers his BBQ sauce to be a more versatile condiment than people realize, with some fans raving that it even goes great with sardines.

Dami's Famous Foods - Dami's BBQ Sauce and chili (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Dami’s BBQ Sauce and chili (Foodzooka)

“Don’t limit your food exploration with barbecue sauce to just grilling. There’s so much out there that you can do with a great barbecue sauce.”

If you can’t make it to the Westside farmers markets, Dami’s Famous Foods also has chili and cornbread on the catering menu. As for other new offerings from his recipe box that may be in the making, Damien says,”…Stay tuned, you never know what I will do next.”

He learned the basics of cooking from his relatives while growing up in Brooklyn, New York and Port Charlotte, Florida. Stewed peas and dumplings, and baked macaroni and cheese with salted codfish were among his favorites as a child.

Drawing from his love of making food, Damien recently released an book of his own health conscious recipes titled Eat Good, Feel Good, available on Amazon.

“I want to be known for always making great tasting food and consistent products that are ahead of the curve,” he said.

Dami's Famous Foods - Catering banner (Foodzooka)
Dami’s Famous Foods – Catering banner (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find Dami’s website and follow him on social media.

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Drop The Guilt When You Pick Up Iggy Chips

Iggy Chips - Foodzooka Splat Feature

Calling all crunchavores with New Year’s resolutions: If your body is telling you to ditch the greasy party chips, then consider switching to some crunchy wonders from Iggy Chips.

These dehydrated fruits and vegetables achieve their crisp and crunchiness without being fried in oil, which means fewer calories. Some, such as the zucchini chips, only have 25 per bag.  “It takes more calories to open the bag,” quipped Daniel Bernstein, owner of Iggy Chips.

Iggy Chips - Zucchini Meeny Miney Moe (Foodzooka)
Iggy Chips – Zucchini Meeny Miney Moe (Foodzooka)

Iggy Chips are dried in a home kitchen without preservatives and come in nearly a dozen produce and flavor varieties with more in the making—all vegan and gluten-free. Some versions use natural seasonings which add pizzazz to even reputedly bland vegetables. Bernstein specializes in crunchifying foods not found from other local and national dehydrators, such as cauliflower, black eyed peas, and watermelon.

“It’s almost like a magician’s trick,” said Bernstein, of turning the juice-soaked watermelon into crispy snack flakes. “It does not want to be in this form.”

Iggy Chips - What A Melon flavors (Foodzooka)
Iggy Chips – What A Melon flavors (Foodzooka)

Bernstein sells bags of Iggy Chips at the Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach farmers markets, the Rainbow Acres Natural Foods market in Marina Del Rey, the Follow Your Heart market in Canoga Park, and online at Etsy.

Sometimes a low calorie vegan snack can be a hard sell, which is why Bernstein makes his stall impossibly hard to miss at farmers markets, with the help of his sun-loving iguana mascot. Iggy and his team of bespectacled and wide-eyed plush iguanas thoroughly surround the booth, making direct eye contact with passersby.

Children are easily drawn to his stall to check out the lizards, and parents buy the snacks to put in their kids’ lunchboxes. Bernstein hopes his green-skinned spokesmen will someday propel his product to large markets, or at the very least, encourage people to eat healthier food.

Iggy Chips - Farmers market stand (Foodzooka)
Iggy Chips – Farmers market stand (Foodzooka)

For more information and updates, click the Foodzooka profile below to find the Iggy Chips website and follow them on social media.