somerville kitchen: How "In" Can Donuts be?

Thursday 22 March 2012

How "In" Can Donuts be?

Well, if you call yourself a Donuterie, bake and sell out of a temporary location (and promote it as such), open till 3:00 pm provided there are any donuts left (I had to try three times before I managed to get some); it is no wonder Cartem's Donuterie is the most talked about place in town these days.

Tucked in the middle of the not-so-clean-and-tidy part of Gastown (408 Carrall), it is not easy to find. And no, those line ups are not for a food bank, they are for donuts - $3.00 a piece donuts.

So what's behind this door you ask?

Wild and wacky donuts with flavours that change daily.

There are regular, vegan and gluten free donuts. Varied flavours and tastes within each, including the "manly" bacon-bits donuts.

I am not one for donuts, so I picked up a sampler and put them through the test of a donuts aficionado.

"It's all good, nicely fried cake, mostly quiet sweet, good texture, obviously not industrially made"

"Classic was the least sweet; Cinnamon and Sweet Heat had subtle flavours difficult to detect, but sweet and good texture; the Earl Grey seemed to be more chocolate to me - cakey, dark, no bergamot detected"

Any remember the 80's discussions about is it a trend or a fad?

Whatever it is, Cartems Donuterie is worth lining up for; even just to look at the spread, view the production and chat with friendly owners.