From the San Jose Mercury News in California. In the picture, the "padded cell" in the shop.Somewhere between classic Americana and completely insane lies the idea behind the newest doughnut shop in Campbell, Calif.
Psycho Donuts aspires to concoct the most outrageous doughnuts ever created, using a mix of ingredients and shapes that look and taste nothing like the round-holed treats you're used to seeing.
Open for just a couple of weeks with little fanfare, the modest shop at 2006 S. Winchester Blvd. has brought a new twist to a classic treat. And it's not just the whacked-out delicacies that Psycho Donuts brass want to offer, but also an atmosphere just as crazy to go with it.
"We really want to bring something unique and lively in both the experience and the food to the South Bay," co-owner Jordan Zweigoron said. "We wanted a really fun place where employees will [interact] with the customers and thought,`Why is there nothing like that here?'"
In addition to carrying the classic doughnuts, the shop also offers nuttier creations such as the Massive Brain Trauma, a jelly-filled doughnut decorated with the face of a guy who looks like he's had better days and the Psycho, a pretzel-covered doughnut with a taste of "sweet, sour and spicy," Zweigoron said.
The shop is an attraction in itself. Zweigoron and co-owner Kipp Berdiansky, both in the tech industry, went all out decorating the place to fit their lighthearted insane asylum theme.In one corner is a padded cell that has become a favorite place for kids to take photos while wearing a straitjacket. The "group therapy" area sits under a flat-screen TV playing short films about doughnuts. And all over the walls is artwork for sale, created by Bay Area artists such as Christine Benjamin and Nicolas Caesar.
The employees are also decked out in lab coats and nurse outfits.
"This is very much an experimental-themed environment; our intent is to run as far away from the corner doughnut shop experience as we can," Zweigoron said, noting that he used Tim Burton as a yardstick for his shop. "It's themed as a fun mental institution, a science experiment gone bad. It's sort of dark, but in a sweet kind of way."
Zweigoron and Berdiansky came up with the idea one night after a game of racquetball. While at a doughnut shop, they wondered why the conventional doughnut has seldom been reinvented and figured they would take on the task themselves.
After about a year of research that included visits to dozens of doughnut shops and with baking and pastry chefs at the Professional Culinary Institute, the two owners developed a menu of items that catered to their crazy idea.
"In a sense, we look at the product as a hybrid between a doughnut and a pastry. It's a combination that's making this work so well," Zweigoron said.
Psycho Donuts is currently operating on a soft-opening schedule until April 1, giving them a limited supply of doughnuts each day. On the weekdays, they produce only about 10 dozen doughnuts and 80 dozen on the weekends.
Because the doughnuts are a bit more extravagant and take more time to produce, the prices are a little higher than conventional doughnuts. Each doughnut ranges from $1 to $2, with a dozen costing up to $15.
Store manager Greg Lim says Psycho Donuts aims for the best-tasting and best-quality doughnut. Lim added that the usual scenario is customers come in wanting to try every doughnut and end up taking home a dozen.
On the second Tuesday the store was open, Lim said, "I came here at 8:30 [a.m.] and we had one dozen doughnuts left. It's just been crazy."