A Bethel microbrewery has added a tap to dispense doughnuts.
Sunday River Brewing Co., a landmark for more than two decades on the corner where Sunday River Road departs from Route 2 to lead winter adventurers toward the ski area, has added a line of doughnuts made fresh in the building.
The latest expansion to the lineup of Rick Savage’s family-owned enterprise comes with a Southern flavor, even though situated well north of the Mason-Dixon line.
The idea of pastry offerings was originally pitched to Savage by Mitchell Cooper, who originally hails from Marksville, La., the seat of Avoyelles Parish, in the heart of the state’s Cajun country.
“I’ve been making doughnuts for 25 years,” Cooper said during the wee hours of Saturday morning as he rolled his dough, “but I’ve been around it all my life. I grew up in a doughnut shop since I was a baby.”
Cooper’s experience in the trade is obvious when you watch him efficiently twisting up crullers.
“It’s a Southern dough that I use,” Cooper said. He found a local distributor that could ship in the mix that he prefers, so that he can regulate the yeast and other ingredients he adds.
The doughnuts are a handful, because Cooper insists on using a large dough cutter, and Savage said they challenge anything made by Krispy Kreme.
Cooper is also making a Boston cream doughnut, éclairs, cinnamon buns and apple fritters. For adventure, there’s also a maple-frosted raised doughnut garnished with bacon bits. Let’s hope the New Orleans beignet will appear soon.
The new pastry shop expands the choices since Savage decided in October to open his restaurant at 6 a.m. daily, probably not the norm for a brew pub. Savage keeps customers coming back with his own recipe for a very lean version of an American favorite.
“Yesterday I made 70 pounds of corned beef hash,” Savage said. “I use a 42-quart pressure cooker. People come in and say, ‘That’s the best corned beef hash I’ve had in my life.'”
Savage and Cooper share a similar background in that neither is formally trained in food service, but both grew up in the business, learning from family members.
Once a market for the doughnuts is established, Savage wants Cooper to train a new pastry chef , so he can help expand the restaurant’s menu to include more cuisine from Louisiana and surroundings.
“I’m going to get him on a couple Cajun recipes from down South,” Cooper said, “give him a few ideas to help out.”
Savage also owns Black Diamond Steakhouse farther up the road toward Sunday River Ski Resort.
You never know how far an idea can develop from someone walking through the front door and making a pitch, as Cooper did.
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