When I arrived in New Bedford from Portugal in 1984, the local bakeries were limited in their selection of Portuguese pastries. My first experience in eating a donut was a Boston Creme donuts at DD. When I bit into it, it was an explosive memory a child never forgets, with the combination of creme, chocolate and the fluffy donut. It was an experience of a lifetime. At 14 years old, I worked part-time at DD at Rockdale Ave. There I made the donuts from scratch, start to finish. I mixed the dough, I punched the donuts, I fried the donuts and I filled the donuts. As a 14 year old kid, that was such a fun job. It stuck in my mind how much I enjoyed my time making donuts at DD. From there, people started calling me Joey bag’o donuts, and the name stuck. When I competed in the Food Network challenges, they referred to me as Joey bag’o donuts. Today I’m making donuts, on the weekends, at Top Shelf in New Bedford. I am currently looking for a location, which will hopefully be in the near future, making my childhood dream come true.