A vegan-friendly cottage bakery with a massive Central Florida following is planning a Winter Park location with openings for some investor teamwork to make the dream work.
Donut’ste Doughnuts is the opus of husband-and-wife team Victoria “Chef Victoria” and Jacob “Chef Shalom” Buchanan, who translate the company name – inspired by the greeting “Namaste” – to mean “the doughnut lover in me honors the doughnut lover in you.” Their social media followers tend to agree as they regularly buy out the weekly stock at the company’s Lake Mary shop.
The business began as a plant-based alternative to high-end doughnut bakeries in the owners’ hometown of New York with Chef Shalom developing the recipes before many vegan baking products were readily available. The old-school approach adds an extra layer of magic to the menu of 13 decadent-yet-sustainable creations that include Strawberry Pop Tart, Triple-chocolate Glazed, Organic Wild Blueberry fritters, and a Signature Vanilla Cinnaroll. Rave reviews spread throughout social media soon after the couple opened their brick-and-mortar location in August of 2023, and the praises continued in a recent Orlando Sentinel review.
Online ordering is a must for the Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday release schedule. Drop-in purchase of the small-batch sweetness is practically impossible, but extra inventory is announced day of sale for pre-order pickups. However, Winter Park residents will soon have an advantage as Chef Shalom and Chef Victoria have plans to take over the former Busy Bride Wedding Design location at 1996 W. Fairbanks Ave. for their first expansion. And entrepreneurs are wanted as a social media campaign, launched at the beginning of May, is advertising for serious investors to help with the effort.
“We don’t have an accurate (construction) timeline at the moment,” said Chef Shalom. “We love Winter Park and we feel it’s the perfect place for our expansion.”
For the weekly menu, investor information, and contact information, check the Donut’ste website and Instagram account.
