Doughnut Shoppe is a new gift to Los Angeles from distinguished pastry chef Elizabeth Belkind. For the past month, she has transformed this high-end Beverly corridor restaurant into a doughnut-lover’s wonderland. She offers seven different, and I mean different, kinds of doughnuts every Wednesday at Grace.

There were only three of us, and as much as wanted to try all seven doughnuts, we could only manage four different orders ($9 apiece). Fortuitously, each order came with three doughnuts.

We kick-started the proceedings with the doughnuts Belkind has offered on the regular dessert menu since Grace’s inception: “The Original Jelly Doughnut, strawberry rhubarb jam, vanilla cream, buttermilk strawberry ice cream.” They were excellent, with ingredients several notches above the jelly doughnuts I ate as a kid. We could have done without the bowl of vanilla cream with a sliver of strawberry floating on top. The doughnuts were good enough on their own. Of course that didn’t stop us from spooning up the cream like soup.

“Brown Sugar Doughnut, blackberry preserves, warm berry salad, beurre noisette” was a contender for best plate of the evening. They had a crystallized brown sugar crust. The berry preserves and mix of warm blueberries, blackberries and strawberries were natural partners.

“Coconut frosted Doughnut, cajeta, roasted cashews, panna gelata” was very good. The doughnuts were coated in coconut strands, sat on a bed of caramel and raw cashews.

The consensus top choice was “Chocolate Hazelnut Beignet, bananas foster, burnt caramel ice cream” and candied pecans. The beignets were so fluffy, and the chocolate hazelnut sauce that oozed when the beignets were cut was a very good thing. The bananas were caramelized and beyond luscious.

We cut the effects of all the sugar with strong French press coffee. One friend got French pressed tea that came with a silver and glass bee that had a honey-filled abdomen. Nice touch.

Overall, the evening was a colossal success. Our only regret was that we weren’t able to try all the doughnuts. No problem. It just gives us an excuse to return for the three untested varieties: “Warm Glazed Doughnut, sweet and simple, cold glass of milk”; “Warm chocolate pillows, marshmallow cream, spiced hot chocolate, spiced burlat cherries”; and “Doughnut Shoppe, yeast raised, filled and glazed, house-spun vanilla ice cream.” Of course, as innovative as Ms. Belkind is, there could easily be more than seven varieties by the time of our return. (If you’re reading this, Elizabeth, hint-hint).

UPDATE: Elizabeth Belkind has moved on, but new Pastry Chef Mariah Swan is continuing the Doughnut Shoppe tradition.

Related Posts

1. Doughnut Plant – New York, NY – May 1, 2009
2. Voodoo Doughnut – Portland, OR – June 14, 2008
3. Frittelli’s [CLOSED]
4. Nook Bistro – Los Angeles, CA – July 24, 2006
5. Sublime Doughnuts – Atlanta, GA – November 28, 2009

This entry is filed under American, California, Los Angeles, Southern California, Westside.