Chris Ritter knows dough.
The longtime cook behind the new doughnut shop with perhaps the perfect name for a Toledo doughnut business — Holey Toledough — is preparing to distribute his fried flour products to the masses. That effort begins 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 7-8 during the Point Place Business Association Trade Show, which takes place at Lighthouse Landing Art, Antique & Craft Hall, 4441 N. Summit St.
There, Holey Toledough will give out free samples of its doughnuts as well as sell them for the first time.
Point Place’s DK Eats and Treats, also at 4441 N. Summit St., is the first confirmed retail location to sell Holey Toledough products.
After working in the kitchens of chef Rob Campbell at Mancy’s Bluewater Grille, Revolution Grille and his current job at Stella’s Restaurant and Bar in Perrysburg, Ritter decided to branch out on his own.
He chose doughnuts because he believes there’s a need in the Toledo market for gourmet, homemade doughnuts — and because, well, they’re doughnuts.
“I wanted to start off my own business thing, since starting a restaurant is way too expensive,” Ritter said March 3 while making his first batch of doughnuts in his newly rented kitchen space at The Savory Suite, a private dining hall in Perrysburg. Ritter purchased some used doughnut-making equipment and spent some time this winter working part-time at Haas Bakery in Oregon to get a crash course in pastries.
Early offerings (and approximate prices) are: vanilla bean glazed doughnut ($1.50), maple bacon ($2.50), apple cider-whiskey glazed fritter ($3) and a doughssant, Holey Toledough’s version of a cronut ($3-$4, depending on filling).
“I still get to apply my same creativity that I like about culinary and cooking to the doughnuts,” Ritter said. “But I wanted to branch out and do my own thing, make more money so I can have the ownership, something I can start marketing that I can have the creative freedom with. I’m taking everything I’ve learned from [Campbell] as far as using what’s fresh, what’s local, what’s seasonal. … I can do that but with doughnuts.”
Ritter is starting the business with his girlfriend, Michelle Fisher, and their 1-year-old daughter, Olivia. It turns out Olivia has been invaluable as a taster of the goods.
“She really likes doughnuts,” Ritter said. “I’m hoping for it to be a family business, something we can all do together and have more time together.”
While many sweet-based businesses make a variety of cakes, pies and other confectionaries, Ritter’s vision is more singular.
“I just want to specialize in this,” he said, looking at a rack of apple fritters about to go into the fryer. “I just want to make these as awesome as I can. … Doughnuts are in right now. But it’s not like doughnuts are a fad — doughnuts have always been around. I just want to make the doughnut better.”
Don’t expect any of the “just add water” to mixes from Ritter, either.
“I want to be the first one here to make my own recipes, use real apples — not out of a bucket,” he said.
It seems Ritter may be filling a hole in the local baking scene.
He started a Facebook page Feb. 5 with the goal of garnering 300 likes in a month’s time. Five hours later, Holey Toledough had amassed 400 likes. By March 5, that number had grown to nearly 1,700.
Holey Toledough will use Facebook to provide updates on locations and new batches of doughnuts. Gluten-free and vegan options will often be available, Ritter said.
Freshness will be of utmost importance to the company, said Ritter, who will essentially work third-shift hours to make and deliver his doughnuts to shops before they open their doors each morning — the key word being “each.”
“Wherever I’m selling, they’ll be dropped off fresh that day,” Ritter said. “It’s in the sales agreements that I don’t want anybody selling day-old ones half-off.”
Ritter is in talks with coffee shops in Toledo and Perrysburg about carrying his doughnuts, as well as the Toledo Farmers’ Market.
He’s also discussing the possibility of doing a doughnut-beer pairing event at Maumee Bay Brewing Co. during American Craft Beer Week on May 11-17.
While Ritter plans to continue working at Stella’s for now, he has dreams of making Holey Toledough his full-time and only gig within a year, a goal he admits is aggressive.
“The goal is to start small, doing the little wholesale outlets and the farmers markets,” he said. “Then I want to do a Kickstarter, apply that toward a small business loan and then get a storefront.”
For more information, visit Holey Toledough’s page on Facebook and Instagram.
