Back in the day, old timers struggled to define rock and roll.
They called it blasphemous and bastardized, overly African-American and insufficiently understandable.
Even today, much has been made of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s issues figuring out who gets ushered in: Does Eminem count as a rock star? Should country hero Dolly Parton get in? (And does she want in?) Dolly or no Dolly, shouldn’t there be more than around 7% women represented?
So maybe it’s appropriate that some find it difficult to wrap their heads around the forthcoming Rock N Roll Donut Bar, debuting in the heart of Cannery Row in New Monterey on Saturday, May 28.
RNRDB brings a lot of stage-dive-crazy developments to the former Johnny Rocket’s and (briefly) Taco Shack Vegan Kitchen at Steinbeck Plaza One.
Note the Mermaid donut with blueberry icing, “beach” sprinkles, blueberry frosting and a white chocolate mermaid tail.
Or the Birthday Cake with b-day-cake-flavored cookie dough and whipped cream.
Or the Everything But the Bagel with whipped cream cheese, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and salt slapped on a raised donut.
Other stunners from the setlist involve the flower-shaped cherry fritter with chocolate drizzle, the jelly-stuffed PB&J with peanut butter icing and the Piña Colada packed with rum-pineapple filling and covered in coconut shavings, pineapple, a cherry and an umbrella.
Then there’s the on-brand Elvis with banana whipped cream, chocolate icing and crushed peanuts.
Plus there are the head-banging savory items, all done with glazed donuts to, as owner-operator Scott Kirkpatrick says, “Give you that crazy sweet-and-salty madness you never admit you love in public.”
Those include donut sliders with choice of burger, sausage, egg or all three with grilled onions, cheese, microgreens, and pesto or tomato jam sauce; the Grilled Cheese with or without grilled onions and pesto; the Pizza with donut holes smashed together to make a “finger-picking” (heehee) item with easy-to-pull-apart pieces and tomato jam, sausage crumble, grilled onions, cheese and micro-greens; or the (gulp) Sloppy Joe cut open like a pita bread and stuffed with meat, cheese, onions and a choice of sauce.
To up the volume, Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing and Wild Little Thing, Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Stout and Lagunitas A Lil’ Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale flow from taps, and around 10 IPAs come in cans. Wine and mimosas are available by single serving, bottle or bucket.
So yes, hold up your lighters. Here the caloric riffs and flavor-forward solos come hard and heavy.
If Kirkpatrick had his way, RRDB would’ve been that much more ambitious, with guitars hanging from the wall available for guests to play and spontaneous jam sessions encouraged. (That was vetoed by Cannery Row’s live music limits.)
Kirkpatrick, a recent Pacific Grove transplant and father of six, comes to the project after relocating from San Diego and recovering from a career in internet marketing and business sales consulting, much of it with restaurants.
“There was an obvious hole in the family entertainment space,” says Kirkpatrick, who welcomed twins to the world last month. “When COVID hit, I had to go soul searching, because no one was calling their marketing guy to say thank you. I wanted to build something fun, to sell happiness, to sell fun, to sell community, to provide a place where people can gather and have an experience, not just donuts.”
His wife Steliyana started knocking out donut recipes, and soon it became what they describe as a “natural decision” to open their own place.
“She was the inspiration to do this,” Scott says. “She’s a gifted baker.”
Steliyana, a native of the Balkans, checked in on what she’s most enthused about with the new shop—while feeding the twins.
“When I moved from Bulgaria to San Diego, I was excited to help create a community, and when we moved to [the] Monterey [Peninsula], I started bringing treats to our neighbors to create a circle of friendship. When they all said it was really good, that gave us the confidence to do this donut bar.”
Saturday’s soft opening features a balloon clown, bubble machine and face painting from 11am-5pm. A grand opening will follow with the arrival of a 6-foot guitar-playing donut statue come mid-June. Hours are 8am-9pm daily to begin.
With all its intense, inspired and borderline absurd creativity at play, the RNRDB evokes a classic quote from Bruce Springsteen E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt.
The thought works for the music genre writ large and Cannery Row’s newest eatery at the same time.
“Rock ‘n’ roll is a participatory sport,” he said. “It ain’t passive. It ain’t TV. Go out there and rock ‘n’ roll.”
More at Rock N Roll Donut Bar’s Instagram page (patience is advised as, *reminder*, they have newborn twins).
Mark C. Anderson is a writer, photographer, editor and explorer based in Seaside, California. Reach @MontereyMCA by way of Instagram and Twitter.
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