The Experts: Megan Barghols
Meg is the ultimate badass lady in the kitchen. She is ridiculously creative and comes up with things that you never thought would be good but they always are. I met her in the summer of 2017, and she was my chef boss in this trendy little grocery/lunch/popsicle shop in Ft. Collins (now Revolution Pops & Gelato). We had fun setting up the run-down kitchen there, getting to experiment with all kinds of local products, and creating whatever dishes we wanted for the to-go customer base there. During that time, Meg was at the very beginning of the process creating foco doco, which is now a killer donut shop in the Exchange north of Old Town. It has been so awesome watching her business grow (literally from the ground up) and see her countless creative ideas come to life! Check out our conversation below and get to know Megan! Oh, and follow foco doco on Instagram and Facebook
Q: Tell me about your background with food, what you are doing today, and what's something you hope to achieve in the future
A: I've worked in kitchens my entire career. From dish, to prep, to line all the way to CDC, chef etc...culinary school in the mix. I have always known at some point I would be in charge of executing my own vision. Getting to challenge myself creatively is key to my success and happiness with work- and life. Making donuts professionally was never on my radar until I lived in Portland. Donuts and coffee are a kind of a culture in the Pacific North West and I decided I wanted to do a locally sourced twist on donuts. Using the freshest possible ingredients available, no matter what you're cooking, makes for the best results in my opinion. I always try to follow the seasons, even when making pastries. I'm always coming up with new concepts for future businesses and developing them in my head. I thought about foco doco for 10+ years. I don't like to make food that has been done many times before.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration from when developing new flavor combinations and ideas for the business?
A: I am constantly inspired by other chefs and Colorado and even a little bit of pop culture. It's fun to be trendy. As far as flavors I tend to be more inspired by the non-traditional. You won't find frosting and sprinkles on our donuts very often. It's a lot more fun to think outside the box, use herbs and spices. Sesame seeds or jalapeños on a donut. At this point our customers trust us enough to try anything we come up with. We are also unapologetically girl-powered at foco doco. We like to follow along with all the other lady owned businesses in town and collaborate as much as possible.
Q: If you could only have 5 kitchen tools, what would they be?
A: 5 crucial kitchen tools right now would be- whisk, spatula, Hobart mixer, juicer - does my robot Mark count??
Q: If you were to open up a new food location that didn’t involve donuts, what would it be?
A: The next concept would be a vegetable-centric breakfast joint for sure. Again bringing in farm to table goodies. I would love a small restaurant where we were able to grow everything ourselves for the most part. (For most of the year) dishes created from scratch- all veggies and herbs from our garden on property. Maybe have some chickens. I'm a life long morning person! I love to be up before the sun and in the kitchen before most of the world is awake.
Q: Top five cookbooks?
A: Top 5 cookbooks right now are definitely not donut related
1. Six Seasons - Joshua McFadden
2. Nothing Fancy - Alison Roman
3. Sister Pie - Lisa Ludwinski
4. Salt Fat Acid Heat - Samin Nosrat
5. Momofuku - David Chang (gotta have a classic in the mix)