In big cities, standing in line for sweet treats is a foodie rite of passage: New Yorkers queue up for Magnolia cupcakes, and San Franciscans do the same for Tartine Bakery’s morning buns—even Martha Stewart herself has been spotted waiting alongside the hoi polloi. Now Minneapolitans are forming lines outside the new Bogart’s Doughnut Co., seeking fried dough stuffed with Nutella or glazed with brown butter. It makes official what many of us have known for some time: This is a serious food town.
Bogart’s owner, Anne Rucker, spent three years selling her baked goods at the Kingfield Farmers Market, developing a cult following and fine-tuning her recipes. This summer, she launched her brick-and-mortar shop at 36th and Bryant in south Minneapolis, focusing exclusively on fresh doughnuts and drip coffee. Her approach puts a modern spin on the classics: lavender cake doughnuts as an alternative to vanilla and raised doughnuts made with brioche dough that comes out of the fryer as puffy and soft as a chubby baby’s thigh.
When the tiny shop opened—it’s just a retail counter, no seating—it was instantly mobbed, with inventory selling out by midmorning. On weekends, lines stretched down the block. A few weeks in, the addition of a second fryer increased production such that Bogart’s was able to drop its one-dozen limit and begin filling special orders.
But a short queue at Bogart’s can be part of the fun: It’s a place to bump into old friends or make a few new ones as you swap recommendations of flavors you’ve sampled. It’s certainly sweeter than the line
at the DMV—and might one day be the site of a future Martha sighting.
910 W. 36th St., Mpls., 612-886-1670, bogartsdoughnutco.com
