Donut Stand
This is what happens when two fine dining chefs ditch gastriques for glazes.
“We're taking a lot of the creativity and the flavors that we have learned throughout our years, cooking and eating and all that is, you know, an inspiration to us.
Turn in their chef coats, for sugar coating.
“Coming from fine dining, we take that knowledge and instinct..and passion into our food.
And dump their confits for crullers.
“All the different chefs we've worked for. I think you can see almost all of their influence in our little donut shop.”
And you’ll taste the technique when you visit The Donut Stand.
Located in a busy shopping plaza in Hopkinton, The Donut Stand may look like a humble donut shop but what chef/owners Mike and Hanna Lombardi are crafting goes way beyond the typical mom and pop places.
“My wife, Hannah, and I met cooking on the line 10, 12, years ago, at Oleana, and we both just had a passion for food. But with the family the night life is not sustainable for us. So we landed on donuts because we want to feed our children something fun and exciting made with quality.”
It’s all done out of an open kitchen- which occupies much of the space.
“I love going to places where you can kind of see the action. We like to show people what we're doing. We don't want it to be a secret. We want them to know our ingredients are pure and delicious and they're local, and the hard work that goes into everything we do.”
A donut shop is only as good as its classic glazed, and at the Donut Stand, the glaze is truly glorious.
“It's so fluffy, so fresh, so beautiful. And the classic glaze has the fresh vanilla bean in it, fresh..local wildflower honey. It's just the perfect complement. It’s not too sweet. Our donuts are super light. They're super fluffy. Delicious.”
The chocolate cake donut is one of the best out there- dipped in classic vanilla glaze and belgian chocolate ganache.
“You don't even know it's a donut. It's like a fried brownie. And you dip it in classic and then we take our chocolate ganache and redip it in that. So you're getting this vanilla chocolate, soft, decadent, rich donut at the end of the day.”
Other classics include the Boston Cream.
“We take our brioche donut, we take our rich chocolate ganache made with Belgian chocolate and heavy cream, a little bit of sea salt, and then we take our homemade creme patis and we whip it with mascarpone so it's just rich, delicate, decadent filling.”
There’s always a jelly donut- filled with jam made with whatever’s fresh from the farm- like this Strawberry Rhubarb version…
And a tangy Lemon Meringue inspired donut.
“When you first bite into it, you do get a little bit of that toasted malo and then you hit the citrus of the center of the donut…All the flavors work together, and it's incredible.”
In addition to the regular menu, the kitchen likes to get creative, offering over the top specials that can change daily, like this eye popping donut known as the Cookie Butter; a brioche based donut topped with cookie butter and a homemade chocolate chip cookie.
And then there’s Grandma’s Sunday Special- a tribute to Mike’s grandmother.
“You would go to her house with a pot of sausage..on the stove and a plate of donuts on the table every Sunday. So part of what we do is we recreate that donut, fried Italian sausage, powdered sugar on a vanilla glazed donut. You absolutely have to try this.”
Other sweet treats include Michael’s carefully crafted croissants; whether you have plain, filled with chocolate or dipped in sprinkles. Or you could go for the epic, oversized cinnamon roll.
“It's just this huge, delicious the mixture of the cinnamon and the sugar and the butter that's inside of the beautiful, pillowy, light and fluffy brioche gets rolled up and baked and then, like you put that cream cheese frosting on there. There's nothing like it.”
The Donut Stand also offers a selection of sandwiches like their sausage egg and cheese- made with a housemade english muffin, fried eggs, cheddar and sausage they create with orange and cumin.
“You get a little bit of different flavor components from the saltiness of the sausage, the orange, you get a little bit of cumin, and then the cheddar cheese that mellows all that out, right on our soft and buttery English muffin. It is very delicious.”
For a staff favorite, try the Reuben.
“The corned beef super juicy. We brine it ourselves. Gets a nice rub of Dijon and some spices, and we slow cook it for hours then you put the the Swiss cheese on there and some sauerkraut and then the 1000 Island that we mix in house on the Pan D’Avignon sourdough. It's so crispy. t doesn't get much better than that for a sandwich.”
There’s a unique take on the Italian made with fried mortadella & genoa salami with provolone and veggies on fluffy ciabatta. Or the tastyProsciutto Crudo stacked on housemade focaccia with prosciutto, fresh stracciatella, tomatoes and aged balsamic.
“When you bite into that, it is like a caprese mixed with all these different flavors bouncing out of your head. And you're just as sweet, you're tangy, you're a little sour, you're creamy, and then you get that soft, fresh focaccia bread. It’s delicious.”
And for Mike and Hanna, the days start early and the work is hard, but much like their donuts, they continue to rise to the occaision.
“I love what I do. I have never looked at this as a job to get by in life. This is my life and it is sweet.”
