Bagels get lots of love.
Pop-Up Bagels recently won both the expert judges and people’s choice awards at the prestigious Brooklyn Bagelfest.
Badass Bagels, out of Sugar + Olives, definitely lives up to its name.
But what about Westport’s other “hole foods”: donuts?
Not so much.
There are 3 Dunkin’ Donutses in town, but most people go there for coffee. Coffee An’s great donuts share space with muffins and crullers. Donut Crazy offers crazy good donuts, but unless you want your arteries immediately blocked, you can only go there once a month.
Evan Feldman is changing that — one freshly made mini-doughnut at a time.
Evan Feldman’s donuts.
The University of Michigan graduate spent 10 years in finance. He didn’t love it though, and when the 2008 economic crisis hit, he took a severance package.
His wife was an occupational therapist; he stayed home to raise their child, and consulted on the side.
One year turned into four. Then … it was time to make the donuts.
Feldman’s father had taught him to cook. His brother was a chef. His in-laws owned a New York food business.
Most importantly, he had a sweet tooth.
Donuts were becomingtrendy. But unlike another early 2010s food craze — cupcakes — Feldman thought they had staying power.
“Donuts are always around,” he notes. “Every culture has a version of fried dough.”
He opened a Doughnuttery pop-up shop in Chelsea Market, figuring 3 to 6 months. Customers loved watching the batter turn into a sugary mini-donut. The aroma was intoxicating.
The market offered Feldman a permanent spot.
The business grew. His brother joined to run catering and events, with a mobile donut-making machine at places like Bryant Park and music festivals.
They opened in the Plaza Hotel food court, and the Turnstyle Underground Marketplace on Columbus Circle.
Customers asked about opening franchises in their hometowns. Doughnuttery launched 3, in Virginia, Wisconsin and Arizona.
COVID hit small businesses like mini-donut shops hard. Two of the franchises folded. The Plaza did not reopen its food court.
But Doughnuttery is rising. Feldman recently opened another store, in Long Island’s Roosevelt Field mall.
A Doughnuttery store.
Four years ago, the Feldmans moved to Westport. A Rockland County native, he’d always wanted a house, lawn and garage; he loved hiking and the water too. His wife had friends in Weston.
Westport, he says, has been “magical.”
Doughnuttery has not yet popped up here. But he’s looking for opportunities.
Feldman is friendly with Badass Bagels’ Jennifer Balin. They might work something out.
He’s donated donuts to his kids’ schools, Coleytown Middle and Kings Highway Elementary.
Evan Feldman, on the cover of a New York Daily News story.
Because his donuts are made to order, there are not many left over. But when a company ordered 15,000 a day (to entice workers back to their offices), Feldman spent a couple of weeks dropping off hundreds at the Gillespie Center.
“They thought I was crazy,” he says. (Insert your own “Donut Crazy” joke here.)
Last weekend, the Doughnuttery mobile machine traveled to Bridgeport’s Sound on Sound music festival.
It’s in demand too for events like weddings and bar mitzvahs — any place mini-donuts can be made, hot and fresh, in front of people’s eyes (and noses).
Catering, courtesy of Doughnuttery.
That includes hotel rooms.
“We’re Kim Kardashian’s favorite donuts,” Feldman says proudly. “She asked us to make donuts in her hotel room, before a gala. We made them for her, and all her entourage.”
(Click here for the Doughnuttery website.)
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