Raleigh doughnut maker sees success with unique flavors

I went to Idle Hour Coffee in downtown Raleigh, but they had already sold out of the popular flavor. I ended up getting a chocolate-covered doughnut. It was so huge I had to share it with my son.

I was so intrigued by the unique flavors I kept seeing on Instagram that I reached out to Tepuy's owner Alejandro Contreras to get the back story on his business. What I ended up doing was spending the morning watching him make doughnuts inside Mandolin's kitchen just a few hundred feet from where they are sold at Idle Hour.

For Contreras, it all started in Venezuela. He saw the success that other doughnut makers had.

"They started selling them at some coffee shops and within a couple years were all over the country and expanding to other countries," Contreras said. "That really inspired me. I always liked to cook and come from a family that cooks a lot. So, to go into the industry, I had to find a way to make my own path without having a restaurant and the whole staff."

Contreras came to the United States on vacation to visit friends and soon decided he wanted to legally stay in the country and work. He has been in North Carolina for just over two years, much of that time in the kitchen working at Mandolin, which features his doughnuts on the menu.

Contreras hand-makes every doughnut at Mandolin. He's a one-person operation for now, creating flavors like salted caramel and triple chocolate.

"I try not to be boring," Contreras said.