LA Donut Festival hosted vendors to fill attendees with joy, samples
Over 10 doughnut companies from around Los Angeles particiapted in the first annual Los Angeles Donut Festival, offering an array of flavors from a simple glazed to a Snickers-filled doughnut. (Miriam Bribiesca/Daily Bruin)
By Kelsey Stern
Oct. 5, 2015 9:36 a.m.
The first annual Los Angeles Donut Festival transformed brunch into a sugary treat Saturday.
As attendees of the sold-out event lined up at the Mad Ave Graffiti House in East Hollywood to satisfy their sweet cravings, their lips were glazed with icing and hands were full with samples.
All proceeds from the event went towards The Salvation Army Glendale Corps to support programs like the food pantry, meals on wheels for senior citizens and after-school programs for youth.
Over 10 doughnut companies from around the Los Angeles area, including Westwood’s Stan’s Donuts, gave out samples of their doughnuts. The companies also competed in a contest for best overall doughnut and the people’s choice award, won by ICDC with a butterscotch-toffee doughnut and Spudnuts Donuts with a berry cream puff, respectively.
SPECTRUM Gallery: LA Donut Festival
“Everyone, as you can see from the turn-out, was happy to come out, and we’re just honored to be a part of it,” said Mark Kelegian, the new owner of Randy’s Donuts.
The tables for the vendors were located inside the warehouse, where attendees were soaked in graffiti murals and live music as they waited for a tasting. The setting seemed to contradict the typical mellow coffeehouse environment of breakfast, but the more up-beat energy mirrored the attendees’ attitudes.
Outside, some people sat mess hall-style at tables, but since there was a lack of sufficient seating, many took to the warehouse floor, enjoying the doughnuts together.
The companies offered a wide array of flavors to the customers, ranging from a simple glazed doughnut with pink frosting and sprinkles to a Snickers-filled powdered doughnut.
One that hit a home-run was Colorado Donut’s Reese’s and Oreo croissant-doughnut, created by the owner’s son Jeremy Lee. Lee said he had thought about combining the Reese’s and Oreo flavors, so one day he tried to and the result was delicious. He then put the filling in the croissant dough’s layers, which had been popular at the time.
Randy’s Donuts offered its number-one seller: the classic glazed doughnut. Kelegian, who bought the company 60 days ago, said he believes the flavor is popular because Randy’s Donuts uses the best ingredients.
“Everything we use is spare-no-expense, everything from our yeast to our flour to everything we do.” Kelegian said. “We’ve got the same guys who’ve been baking for dozens of years, so we maintain that consistency that people are always looking for.”
Kelegian said the event gave the vendors an opportunity to talk about future plans and their views on where they see the doughnut industry heading.
Lee from Colorado Donuts said that the doughnut festival exposed him to a lot of companies he didn’t know existed and allowed him to taste some different flavors, like Kettle Glazed Doughnuts’ blueberry crawler topped with bacon.
Attendees of the event seemed pleased with their experience as well, including fourth-year Spanish student Suzy Loren, who is a self-described doughnut snob. She said she is judgmental when it comes to doughnut tastings, but she was excited for the event since doughnuts are her guilty pleasure.
Loren said she was able to finish all her samples and felt the sample sizes were just right. Then, the doughnut-lover echoed what others at the venue were feeling.
“I’m just so stuffed right now,” Loren said.
