Dromedary Doughnuts owner Michael Lombardozzi has a lot of big ideas that he calls stupid — but only because he likes to laugh at himself.
“Everyone laughs at me ‘cause most of my ideas sound like bad ideas,” he told BK Reader. “Like, having a doughnut shop with a speak-easy is a bad idea.”
But, bad idea or not, Lombardozzi decided to make it happen and opened Dromedary Doughnuts at the beginning of October. The speak-easy, dubbed Ra Ra Rhino, opened last Friday.
Lombardozzi started putting this wild dream of his together with partner Christopher Wescott. The duo met in 2009 while working at One if By Land, an American restaurant and bar in Greenwich Village. Together, Lombardozzi and Wescott started working on their doughnut shop in March 2022.
The partners aren’t new to the bar scene — not only have they both worked in the industry for decades, but Lombardozzi also owns Dromedary Bar, located nearby on Bushwick’s Irving Avenue.
During the day, Dromedary Doughnuts serves 12 different types of doughnuts, all created by Annabel Sharahy, who has crafted a formidable list of tropical drink-inspired doughnuts, though none of the doughnuts are actually alcoholic.
The Dromedary cinnamon roll is crafted with Don’s Mix to taste like a Zombie, and a jelly doughnut based on the flavors in a Hurricane. There’s also the Glass Moon, based on a drink similar to a whiskey sour made with passion fruit, which is served with meringue on top as a reference to the egg whites in the drink.
The only doughnut on the menu that isn't inspired by a drink is the prosciutto doughnut. It's filled with a cannoli cream made with lemon and ricotta, and topped with a butterscotch made from Mike’s Hot Honey and a few crispy slices of prosciutto. It’s surprisingly spicy, and it really works.
At 5:00pm each day, Dromedary Doughnuts closes, and the speak-easy opens.
Ra Ra Rhino, which started serving customers last Friday, is only accessible by walking through a fully operational photo booth in the corner of Dromedary Doughnuts. In this secret back room, everything is dark; there's smoke, mirrors and an enormous purple sparkling rhinoceros head.
The most innovative cocktail on the menu is the 34 Rum Zombie, made with a complex, Solera system-inspired rum mixture.
“Solera wine is when you take different vintages, maybe different blends, and you add a little bit of each of them to one cask,” Lombardozzi said. “It's kind of just a fun way not to throw away the end of the product. So I had an idea: the Zombie was created in 1934 by Don Beachcomber, and the Zombie's one of my favorite cocktails. So [I said] 'Let's do 34 rums, as an homage.'”
To make the 34 Rum Zombie, Lombardozzi has been mixing various high-quality rums like Ron Zacapa and Diplomático in a large barrel to create a new rum mix with a multilayered taste. He plans on continuing to contribute more rums as long as the business is open.
“You know, you won't get the nuances of each rum — obviously, it’s too many — but you will get a tasty rum,” he said. “Even if you had it as a shot on its own, it's gonna be super complex. Too complex to even try to figure out what it tastes like. But it will taste like rum and it'll be delicious, and it's gonna f—in' kick ass.”
Dromedary Doughnuts is open 9:00am-5:00pm from Tuesday through Sunday, and Ra Ra Rhino is open starting at 5:00pm each night. Both are located at 1329 Willoughby Ave. in Bushwick.
