You don't see much turn over in Chelsea Market. So when Tacombi vacated their taco spot in the back, I was surprised. It didn’t take long to fill the location though. Doughnuttery swooped in and started making fresh-fried doughnuts right before our very eyes and drooling mouths.
Thanks to the tabletop Lil' Orbits doughnut machine, they can crank out fried mini doughnuts very quickly, which is a good thing since a minimum order is a half dozen and there are usually a half dozen people waiting on line. What makes their donuts really fun are the different flavored sugar toppings. Sure, you can get a classic cinnamon sugar or glazed doughnut but why would you when you could get The Purple Pig: maple, purple potatoes and bacon; or what about Urban Monkey: green coffee, banana and coconut? Right? The one down side is that you can only get one flavor per half dozen. I wish there was a way you could sample each one of the sugars. Even if there was a premium for doing so, I would totally do it and I'm sure other people would too.
One detail that I really like is the counter on the back of the doughnut machine. It lets Aaron, the owner know how many doughnuts he's cranked out since he opened and/or turned the machine on. It's obviously convenient for tracking daily sales but to me, it's more like having a daily affirmation tracker; it's telling me just how much people like my product. My brownies sold for $2.50 each when I had my store, which is fine - if I sold a bajillion every day. Given the rents of Chelsea Market and the ticket price of a half dozen doughnuts, I hope he can make a go of it.
(Top image via Doughnuttery)