New York Bakery Honors Anthony Fauci With His Very Own Doughnut

A New York bakery’s sweet tribute to Dr. Anthony Fauci is garnering orders from across the country. 

Nick Semeraro, the owner of Donuts Delite in Rochester, New York, said he wanted to find a way to cheer up local customers, most of whom have been self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic. So, this week, his bakery unveiled a batch of buttercream-frosted doughnuts with Fauci’s face printed on edible paper, and it quickly became a sensation. 

“It just started as a thank-you,” Semeraro told 13WHAM, a local ABC affiliate. “It’s sticking, and I think it’s great. People are stuck at home and what’s happening is, it’s starting conversations. Whether they pick it up for someone, it starts that thinking outside of the box and giving back.”

Semeraro said thousands of the doughnuts have been sold so far, many to customers from other states. 

“Right now, we’re selling over 100 an hour at least,” he added, noting that the bakery ― currently open for takeout and delivery only ― will continue to produce the treats as long as there’s demand. 

He acknowledged that he and his staff “had no idea they would blow up like that.”

Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been thrust into the global spotlight as the spread of the coronavirus has intensified. He has emerged as a contrast to President Donald Trump ― a voice of clarity throughout the pandemic, even as he’s called upon to deliver less-than-comforting statistics. 

And Donuts Delite customers appear to be pleased by the homage. 

“What a creative way to celebrate an amazing man doing an incredibly difficult job and he’s doing it so well,” one wrote on the bakery’s Instagram page. “His patience and diplomacy are to be admired.”

Added another: “I remember his calm, steady hand during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. He was a hero then and now. Well done!”