Fuck cupcakes! Upscale doughnuts with exotic toppings are the next big foodie thing if Paulette’s and Rachelle’s are any indication.
Add Glory Hole Doughnuts (1596 Queen W, at Sorauren, 416-420-5169, gloryholedoughnuts.com) – a just-launched specialty shop in Toronto’s funky west end – to that sprinkle-topped list. NOW spoke with owner Ashley Jacot de Boinod on the fritter factory’s grand opening.
How did you end up as the doyenne of doughnuts?
“I went to George Brown for the chef program but I didn’t want to have anything to do with baking. After that, I was a line cook for several years at places like Scaramouche, Buca and Live Organic Food Bar. But one day, I walked into Stubbe Chocolate and fell in love with all things sweet. I needed a part-time job, so I started a donut delivery business with an aim to start a retail store and here I am right now.”
Why Parkdale?
“Well, I live out here so that helps. But it’s a very up-and-coming area with restaurants like Grand Electric and the Yukon and older spots like Mother India. There’s lots of good food here.”
Do you still offer delivery?
“Only for orders of three dozen or more. I’m by myself in the kitchen at the moment so I can’t really do smaller amounts.”
Some say four dollars for a doughnut is crazy.
“Fair enough. People think a doughnut costs a dollar but they’ll pay $3.50 for a small cupcake or a coffee. In our defense, nothing we use is frozen. We bake three batches every single day so everything’s always fresh. But I will be introducing some less expensive ones. They just won’t be cream-filled or have exotic toppings. I like over-the-top doughnuts!”
How did you come up with the Glory Hole name? There are those who find it in extremely bad taste. “Disgusting” is an online comment often bantered about though we can’t see what’s so offensive about a mining term coined during the San Francisco gold rush of 1849.
“I understood when I named the company that it wouldn’t be for everyone. That’s my sense of humour. If you don’t get it, you don’t have to come here.”
