Article

Moving from pizza to pistachio doughnuts: Chicago restaurateur says it's a natural

Ask a pizzaiolo the key to mastering the pie and you'll likely hear it's the dough. Chicago restaurateur Rich Labriola won't argue that point. In fact, he's so smitten with the squishy stuff that he decided to master doughnut dough, too, and Chicago has never been happier about that.

Photo: Stan's Donuts

February 5, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Dough — in both its figurative and literal forms — drives a lot of action in the QSR world daily. But ask a dough pro, like Chicago restaurateur Rich Labriola, and you'll quickly learn how vexing the mastery of this stuff can be. 

Labriola — a.k.a. "Chief Dough Boy" to his friends and business associates — cut his teeth on the wheaty wonder when, as a grade-school kid,

Chicago restaurateur Rich Labriola (photo provided).

he worked at his dad's Calumet Park pizzeria in Chicago. Today, with his own restaurant company, Doughboy Restaurants, he operates two pizza-centered brands (Labriola Chicago and La Barra) and a chain of Chi-town upscale doughnut shops, called Stan's Donuts & Coffee. In other words (prepare for bad pun), you might say Labriola is quite literally rolling in the dough. 

In fact, if you talk to Labriola about his transition to doughnut shop owner, you get the feeling that this guy thinks all pizza restaurateurs with dough expertise might just as easily do the same thing and start their own doughnut shops like he did. He considers it a natural transition for a pizzaiolo.

"I grew up in the pizza biz. I've made (and eaten) a lot of pizza from the time I was nine years old, so I think it's a natural leap from pizza restaurateur to doughnut-maker, because it all revolves around a deep understanding of dough," he said in an interview with this website, to summarize his experience and pizza and at one time, a Chicago bakery. 

"Baking bread was my whole life for 20 years and it is still in my blood every day. … It took me a good seven or eight years to really understand all the nuances of baking bread, but once you master baking bread, any other dough can be quite simple to make great."

For Labriola, though, the step into the doughnut hole really came in 2014 while he was watching a TV travelogue that featured iconic Los Angeles doughnut shop owner Stan Berman. After seeing Berman's passion and perfection with the bready confections, Labriola was driven to connect with the Stan's Donut's owner and somehow tracked him and his phone number down.

A fast friendship formed, followed soon by a partnership that brought Stan's tubular concoctions halfway across the country to Chicago, beginning with a store in Wicker Park. Since then, the brand has been augmented by Stan's Coffee, as well as 11 more stores and, most recently, doughnut-shaped cookies that — like Stan's $2 to $5 doughnuts — do a booming business around the country through online ordering.

The doughnut/coffee/cookie shops are all a celebration of bygone doughnut days in their branding and design, including a signature pink-and-green color scheme, marble counters, multi-colored mixers and glass cases filled with the sweet temptations. It is really sort of the polar opposite of the look most pizza brands typically brandish. But, appearances aside, pizza sauce is still very much coursing through Labriola's veins. And the lessons he's learned as a pizzaiolo have been like proofing a dough for Stan's Donuts, where the brand has risen quickly to capture business in a very competitive food town.

"I grew up in the pizza biz. I've made (and eaten) a lot of pizza from the time I was 9 years old, so I think it's a natural leap from pizza restaurateur to doughnut-maker, because it all revolves around a deep understanding of dough."

-Chicago restaurateur Rich Labriola

"Growing up in any small business makes you appreciate the struggles of small business," Labriola said. "When you own your own business, you live and die with the good and the bad. Your butt is on the line constantly and you perform accordingly. 

"My mother and father both worked in a very small pizza business. I loved making the pizza, but I also loved the business of pizza. As a kid, I got to count the money when my father came home at night. It was the best part of my day when he hit $1,000 in sales. On the flip side, I remember nights where I only counted $250 in sales. That was depressing even as a kid."

'Pizza IS bread'

All this harkens back to the notion that many a pizzaiolo espouses that when you break pizza down

Labriola White deep-dish pizza (photo provided).

to its key element, pizza really is bread. Labriola not only agrees, but thinks that has helped his doughnut brand gain traction quickly with Windy City patrons.

"If you talk to 10 pizza operators, you will get 10 different dough recipes and methods. And you will get 10 people who believe and will explain to you why theirs is the best," he explained.

"Growing up knowing great pizza gave me a head start to know exactly what pizza I wanted for my restaurants. It took a little while longer to form the doughnut recipes, since I had never made that type of dough before. Growing up and seeing how yeast doughs are created was a massive help later on."

Labriola does not think, nor even care much, that most of his restaurants' customers never know the same guy is behind two very different concepts, but he does see some possible business opportunities there by way of cross-promotional opportunities. After all, Labriola believes pizza and doughnut customers actually have something in common. 

"Pizza lovers prefer savory flavors, and get passionate about the differences in great pizza: They may like the crust from one place, the sauce from another and the sausage from a third. Doughnut-lovers tend to have their favorite doughnut place period."

-Rich Labriola

"Pizza diners and doughnut lovers are similar, in that they both want to enjoy an indulgent treat," he points out. "They are different because doughnut lovers obviously have a sweet tooth and can have a doughnut for every meal. 

Stan's Donuts in Chicago (photo provided).

"Pizza lovers prefer savory flavors and get passionate about the differences in great pizza: They may like the crust from one place, the sauce from another and the sausage from a third. Doughnut-lovers tend to have their favorite doughnut place period."

That overall indulgent characteristic shared by all of Labriola's brands poses a potential problem in a world gone wild for ultra-healthful food. After all, few would be able to seriously argue that a nutella-and-banana-filled chocolate doughnut or steeped-in-cheese deep dish pie have many health benefits. But Labriola said that's why he doesn't fight it.

"Doughnuts are obviously a treat — something you enjoy that puts a smile on your face when you walk in the store and a bigger smile when you eat one," Labriola said plainly. "In the world of healthful eating and keto diets, the only way to win someone over with a sweet good is to make sure that it's worth the calories. 

"It's such a waste to eat high-calorie foods that have no flavor. That's why we use real vanilla, fresh eggs, butter and whole milk in all our doughs. That, along with great coffee, has proven to be a great business model for us."

Can his success be replicated by other pizzaioli with a yen to extend into a dough-based non-pizza brand? Labriola sees no reason why not. But like any baking endeavor, expect a lot of dips along the way.

"Practice makes perfect, and don't be afraid to fail," he advised others interested in similar endeavors. "I once tried a pepperoni-and-cheese fritter, thinking it was the best of both worlds. It was great when it was hot, but not so great when it cooled off. I also tried a croissant dough pizza once. Let's just say it doesn't need to be tried again!"

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.