On many a Sunday morning in the mid-60s, after the 10:00 a.m. Mass at St. Gabriel Church, my Dad would give me a buck to pick up a dozen donuts at Billy’s Donut Shop on Taraval between 40th and 41st Avenues. Although it was a bit out of the way, as we lived on 38th Avenue between Vicente and Wawona, I’d happily set off to get the goodies. And yes, a buck was sufficient to purchase a dozen donuts!
This was not an every-Sunday thing, but Billy’s supplied donuts for our family on a fairly regular basis for many years. At some point, the name of the donut shop changed to The Donut Center. I loved the custard Danish pastries they sold. When I graduated from S.I. in 1972, I moved to the Santa Clara Valley for college. Until last Thursday, I had not been inside the donut shop since that time.
I’ve been told that, through the years, the business became an Asian bakery, perhaps changing ownership a time or two. A few months ago, however, I read an article about the current business in this location — Sweet Passions Bakery — and the unique fare offered there. Jenny, the owner of Sweet Passions, grew up in the Sunset District. The bakery could still be considered an Asian bakery, but in recognition of the fact that there are many Irish-American families living in the Sunset, Sweet Passions offers some traditional Irish baked goods as well.
It was strange to walk through the front door of Sweet Passions last Thursday. Memories of how everything looked when it was Billy’s were fresh in my mind. Not surprisingly, things are very different today. I was greeted warmly by Jenny and I mentioned to her that it had been more than fifty years since I’d been in that shop. We had a wonderful conversation about the history of the building and the neighborhood. Then I started looking at the items behind the glass counter.
It was lunch time, so I ordered a curry chicken pastie. There were other pasties to choose from, but the curry chicken caught my attention. It was amazing! I expected that I’d like it, but it was even better than I had anticipated. I also picked up a loaf of Irish soda bread to take home, and Jenny threw in a loaf of the Irish brown bread for me to try. Both were excellent.
It’s probably a good thing that I still live in the Santa Clara Valley, because if I owned a home in the Sunset District, I’d be a regular customer at Sweet Passions and I can only imagine how that might affect my weight. I’m grateful, however, to know what an amazing bakery now occupies the old Billy’s Donuts space, and for the opportunity to stop by whenever I visit The City.
