SIDRO: Iloilo's very own gourmet doughnuts

Just listening to Isidro Panizales Jr. animatedly talking about his life before and after being a “doughnut-preneur”, is like the different flavors of Sidro Doughnuts. Each variant seems to reflect different aspects of his almost three decades of living in America. From his work in corporate America for more than 10 years to that one little spark of deciding leaving work to pursue his delicious passion – life is like a box of doughnuts!

IN A DOUGHNUT HOLE

Sidro is an offshoot from the name Isidro but as Sid says, it’s a tribute to his father.  The first Sidro Doughnuts came out of the kitchen and delivered to one lucky doughnut-phile on Dec. 18 last year.  It comes in two sizes – Junior Doughnuts which at 30 grams each are perfect for parties and occasions. But if you can’t enough, there are the Regular Doughnuts which is more than 3x at  100 grams and comes with more toppings and flavours.  Choose among nine specially concocted creations - Bugnay Berry, Calamansi, Dulce De Leche with Toasted Coconut, Mango Pistachio, Salted Caramel, Sesame Soy, Chocolate Caramel, Sugar Cinnamon and Vanilla.

“The past 7 weeks have been great!” opens up Sid. “It feels great to finally realization of this dream here in my home town”. He continues that it was also great amounts of work involving time, money and effort plus the pressure seeing how his customers would react on the first bite. 

SOLD OUT

“Each doughnut is cut, cooked and glazed all by hand” he says with pride. “Sidro Doughnuts are gourmet doughnuts using only the highest quality and all-natural ingredients.”

That’s the reason he makes cap on how many doughnuts he will make daily thus always being sold out. Limiting himself to 200 doughnuts per day, Sid hopes to make 5x as much when his showcase kitchen being built now at his parent’s house is finished in 2-3 week’s time.  He personally does everything as of now – from ingredients shopping, measurements, kneading, baking, glaze topping and yes, even delivery.  

Sid Panizales with his Bugnay Berry, Mango-Pistachio and Chocolate Doughnuts

“I consider Sidro Doughnuts to be doughnuts for adults he points out. “The flavors are unique and definitely no sprinkles on top”. 

It’s all about the taste he says and I definitely agreed - biting into my Calamansi doughnut right in front of me.  The dough is soft and doesn’t feel and tasty greasy at all. Glazed with a sweet-sour taste combo that most Pinoys are familiar with, each forkful is a burst of flavor!  Even the plain doughnut is a delicious treat to eat on its own and how much more if topped with a variety of glaze and toppings.

THE BIG APPLE

In New York, where lived for 15 years, Sid worked with legal and financial firms for for over a decade.  He’d also do consulting for non-profit companies on the side. Perks come as he traveled, some for business but mostly for pleasure, to more than 50 countries.

And to unwind some more from the day’s stresses, he’d bake.  “It’s a hobby and passion.” he says. “Mostly I’d make brownies and cookies that I would bring to parties and gatherings”.

When he turned 31, he asked himself what he really wanted. He dreams of turning his passion and hobby into "something" and he dream of having a bakery  But culinary schools are expensive - around US$ 40K/year and instead he could already use that amount to start his business. 

DREAMS “DOUGH” COME TRUE

Sid shared how he started realizing his doughnut dreams with 6 letters; G-O-O-G-L-E!

He Googled for the best doughnut shop in New York and was answered with “Dough Doughnuts” located in Brooklyn. (Check out Dough Doughnuts video). And then he chased his dream.

But with no culinary diploma to back him up, applying the old-fashioned would seem not the path that would bring his doughnut dreams come true. Instead, he decided to meet the Dough owner, Fany Gerson for a more personal application. 

I Googled about Fany Gerson and found has worked in a range of fine-dining kitchens around the world including 3 Michelin starred Akelare in Spain and Eleven Madison Park in New York. She also owns La NewYorkina

Sid with Fany in Japan where Dough was invited in an International Food Fair

Sid’s meeting with Fany went well as she decided to give him the chance to pursue his passion. Under Fany, he started at Dough doing the simple preparations – cutting the dough, slicing toppings, cleaning the shop and those work which Sid describes as “not really needing a culinary diploma”.

These served as Sid’s formal training in the passion which he is trying to develop now as a business. He rose from the ranks and started in the actual doughnut making.  Barely 6 months into his “training” at Dough in Brooklyn New York, Fany announced that Dough is opening a branch in Manhattan near the famed Flatiron Building. And with that, Fany made him the branch's kitchen manager in Dough’s Manhattan shop! 

As kitchenmanager, aside from overseeing the day to day operations, he still has to d the basic especially when they are understaffed.  He makes doughnuts as well as clean, wash, mop, etc – as well getting to work as early as 3am and/or late past their closing time. But Sid enjoyed this daily routine at Dough and thought of bringing this back to his hometown and sharing his passion.

NEW YORK MEETS ILOILO

Sid resigned from Dough in November of last year, making Thanksgiving his last big hurrah at Dough. He arrived in Iloilo towards the end of November and Sidro was born on the 18th of December. 

“I was already experimenting with my own doughnuts before I resigned” he reveals. “I had to perfect my own dough nut and create flavors that I can truly call my own.  Upon arrival, he tested his recipes using the local ingredients here in Iloilo. But he said he had to import some ingredients like chocolates from USA as the brands he used are only available there. He goes local with his fruit flavors like using calamansi and bugnay sourced from Guimaras.

Once he perfected his craft – from doughnut frying and making his toppings to boxing them (he revealed his father designed the pattern of the boxes) it was now time to unveil Sidro Doughnuts.

Sidro joins Dinagyang 2016

Sid makes donuts at 5am then makes the morning deliveries then makes the next batch after lunch and goes round for his final deliveries of the day. “I personally make the deliveries as of now to connect with the Ilonggos” he says. “I want to see their reactions when they get their order and maybe personally get their feedbacks about Sidro”.  But he says it’s in social media where he gets most of these reactions – the likes, the shares and the comments make Sidro spread like wildfire thus making it sold out most of the time and sometimes there is a 3–day waiting for orders to pass through.

But just like most of you, two questions that lurk are “Why give up the Big Apple? And why Iloilo?” 

“I want to give back something as Dough has given me more than enough and sharing it here in Iloilo with Sidro is the best thing I could do” he says. “If I wanted to make money out of this, I would have created it in manila or Cebu where the flow of money is much faster.”

“But I want Iloilo to be part of my venture and hopefully grow with it.” He reveals he could be opening a store within the year wherein he would love to see people elated in choosing their doughnut flavors from a display. But everything depends on how this business picks up in the next few months. He knows there’s a strong competition among doughnuts –but all imported brands. 

“What do you see on my logo?” he asked. “There’s a doughnut in O and has three stars as topping”. He explained that three stars always remind him of the Philippine flag. And he hopes that Sidro can contribute to the local doughnut scene as it “competes” with the more established brand.

Finally he shares what Fany Gerson, New York’s doughnut queen said to him when he said “goodbye”.  DREAM BIG!

And that’s what Sid is starting to do now - slowly but surely sharing his delicious passion with us all with Sidro Doughnuts!

Unwatermarked photos c/o Isidro Panizales Jr and Sidro Doughnuts Facebook Page