The rise of local doughnuts

The rise of local doughnuts
The rise of local doughnuts

The rise of local doughnuts

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Doughnuts are the new cupcakes, so say the culinary trendsetters—and with The Doughnut Vault, Do-Rite Donuts, and Glazed and Infused, Chicago is finally catching up with New York and Portland.

But if one local craft doughnut maker has his way, we’ll surpass them all.

Meet Arise Doughnuts.

And local means local. Every single local, seasonal, sustainable, organic, and ethical ingredient—milk, eggs, butter, flour, sugar, salt, oil, yeast—is not only locally sourced, but made in house when possible. The butter, churned. Flour, milled. Sugar, made in house from locally grown beets. Salt, from Midwestern salt mines. Oil, pressed from locally grown sunflowers. Even the yeast is wild. Chocolate is coming, thanks to the cacao trees at the Garfield Park Conservatory, and of course fruit in season. Eggs will vary between chicken and duck—and milk among cow, goat, sheep, and even European rabbits through an experimental program at Lincoln Park’s Farm in the Zoo.

But don’t expect to pick up a dozen anytime soon, or ever. Arise’s chef/owner, a self-described doughnut purist, will only make one kind of doughnut per day—and limit one doughnut per person. Which may be all we could afford, with each doughnut expected to price at least $10 each.

Look for Arise Doughnuts on Kickstarter soon.