We have a new site. Hope you like it.

You will be re-directed to our new site in

about 5 seconds. 

SO EXCITED ABOUT THE NEW SITE

I hope you all like our new site. Eric Hopf of Vegan Zagats helped to set it all up for us. Check out his blog it is really great. He will be at our launch on the 2nd....WE hope to see you all there!

Little History of Dan and I

This has been such a fun and funny experience getting this business off of the ground. A lot of people have written me saying: "I love your name. How did you come up with it?" which makes me laugh because it is simply a combination of our last names. Dunbar and Hollowell...when we came up with Dun-Well it was, I believe for the both of us, a realization that our friendship was written in the stars....or at least on our birth certificates.

Dan and I have known each other for quite some time and have done many crazy things together. If you know both of us you will know that he hated me when we first met but after some time I grew on him and we haven't looked back.

Because of Dan, or he might say say it has been my fault, I have been detained in a former soviet state for our lack of visas, stuck in a Mexican airport with no knowledge of when we might get out, up to my chest in water next to an ice burg, and almost eaten by a grizzly bear....twice. But I wouldn't change any of it.

Dan and I both have a passion for cycling and have biked across the US twice and around the world once. We have taken bush taxies, slept in mud huts, trekked through the sun in West Africa together, but nothing compares with what we are about to do now.

The excitement of starting this new adventure and being part of the Vegan Business Community is something Dan and I have been talking about since at least 2006 when I lived in Portland, OR. Unfortunately him and I have never lived in the same city.

That changed this year and that is why, on Feb 2nd, Dun-Well doughnuts will be born in NYC!

This is a little video Dan and I made when we wanted to be on THE AMAZING RACE! It gives a bit of background and I thought it would be fun to share with all of our doughnut friends.

Cheers
CH

Doing It With Style

Our friend, Joshua Katcher (aka The Discerning Brute) will be happy to know that these two gentlemen are going to be looking snazzy even while they are making doughnuts.  During part of my trip back home to see family, I also got a little time to work in my printing studio and whip us up a couple custom made aprons (and thanks to Mom for sewing them up for us!)

Like the idea of a vegan operated screen printing studio that specializes in printing images on shirts with some hip animal rights/vegan messages?  So did I!  So behind the scenes of our frenzied doughnut making obsession you can find "Peace Vegan."  If you're part of an animal rights group or business and need some t-shirts or hoodies give me a shout at dan@peacevegan.com, and check out the website at www.peacevegan.com

Here's another look at an upcoming vegan doughnut superstar.  Set your eyes on this and get your taste buds ready!

the Peanut Butter & Jelly

Root-Beer Doughnut

We are almost there!

Sorry Dan and I have been quiet for a few days. We both left town to visit family before the big launch...we want to make sure that we are available in NYC after we kick off Dun-Well Doughnuts on Feb 2nd at moo-shoes. But don't fret we have been working hard while we were away and have some great new flavors that we have come up with. There was one bummer though that happened while we were away. We discovered that one of our suppliers wont be able to gt us the colored sprinkles we want for the strawberry frosted doughnut. So...I guess we won't be able to start out having rainbow sprinkles...but no worries they are not necessary to have a great doughnut. When Sprinklez* starts making them again I promise that we will have them...but until then, unless Dan and I were to use a lesser product, we wont have them...and we just don't want to use unnatural ingredients (no matter how pretty they are).

Dan and I have been getting lots of e-mails asking us questions and wishing us luck and we both want to thank all of you for your kind words of support. It means a lot to the both of us. THANK YOU!

Well...here is a preview shot of a coconut doughnut.
Cheers
CH

OFFICIAL VEGAN DOUGHNUT LAUNCH!

If you are among those of us who have longed for the day that a beautiful and delicious doughnut was also made by people who cared enough about animals to not use them as ingredients, this is your night!

Wednesday, February, 2nd

7PM - 9PM @

Mooshoes, 78 Orchard Street

Joining us for the evening will be none other than NYC's favorite vegan ice cream joint, Lula's Sweet Apothecary, with free samples of a very special, made-for-doughnuts, ice cream flavor.

Also in attendance will be a beautiful new gem for Brooklynites, and all New Yorkers alike, Pine Box Rock Shop, an all vegan bar, featuring a vegan "Bailey's Cream."  Pine Box also features vegan empanadas and bar snacks, along with fish friendly drinks.  And they'll be providing special, made-for-doughnuts, cocktails!

We are SO thrilled and fortunate to be sharing this launch party with some of our favorite vegan people and business.  Come to the party for doughnuts and good times, and check out our friends'

Lula's Sweet Apothecary, 516 East 6th Street

&

Pine Box Rock Shop, 12 Grattan St. Brooklyn (steps away from the Morgan L station)

With Sincere excitement and pleasure, 

the Dun-Well Doughnut team

We make Doughnuts!

Two of our shots by Ryan Pfluger

Great News!

This is a picture from back in 2008 when Dan came to visit me in Senegal West Africa where I was volunteering with the US Peace Corps. The life saver next to me in this picture could very well have been a subliminal inspiration for  Dun-Well Doughnuts

Dun-Well Doughnuts has and official place for our launch party on the 2nd. We are getting some of the images from our photo shoot this past week today and I hope that I can upload some of them when we get them. Other fun things that are happening is that the Girlie Girl Report mentioned our website in their blog today and we received a ton of e-mails wondering about our business. Well, it was kind of overwhelming but also kind of great. We answered them all and let people know what was going on with out business and what our plan is but I realized that I haven't really posted it completely on here so I am going to share my response to one of the e-mails that I received

Thank you so much for writing us. Well, we don't launch for another two weeks but I am really happy to hear that a buzz is in the air. There isn't too much to tell right at the moment except that my partner Dan Dunbar and I are launching our business Dun-Well Doughnuts on February 2nd. We are actually starting out very small, hoping to get a buzz, and then to expand. After Feb 2nd our doughnuts will be available at certain coffee shops and restaurants throughout the city. Our hope is to grow our wholesale business until we can no longer meet the demand and then open a storefront here in the city. Our timeline for this is sometime in the late summer early fall. 

For our product we source local and organic as often as possible. We use organic unbleached flour and organic evaporated cane juice as our sweetener. At the moment, since we are just starting, we do not have any gluten free products. But give us a few months. Right now we are focusing on yeast risen doughnuts, think Krispy Cream, but with an artesianal bent. We don't just make your run of the mill doughnuts (though we do do that) we make some special great special flavors you won't find any place else....one of my favorites is root-beet. I can't really say much more now because we still have a lot of work to do before the launch.

So that is the news for now. If anyone knows a good website designer out there be sure to shoot us an e-mial at dunwelldougnuts@gmail.com Dan and I would like to get our website really going

Cheers

CH

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. De Mille

     Some more exciting things are unravelling in the world of vegan doughnuts!  Yesterday, photographer extraordinaire, Ryan Pfluger (VegNews "Hotlist of people to know"), provided his services for a doughnut photo shoot.  Among the doughnuts captured by his lens were our classic glazed, chocolate frosted, maple frosted, lemon poppy seed, root beer, peanut butter and jelly, and strawberry frosted doughnuts.  In the process of preparing these little guys for their big photo opt, Christopher and I realized that the possibilities for doughnuts are truly endless.  Though initially we will be in keeping with some traditional flavors it is imperative to both of us that these possibilities be explored.  The evolution of our doughnuts will undoubtedly lead us to unexplored territories and deliver previously unknown pleasure to doughnut lovers.

     In the coming weeks, as we get our first wholesale order delivered, we'll be working hard to polish up our secret recipes so we can guarantee a consistently mind-blowingly tasty doughnut every time!

We'll be uploading some of Ryan's photos soon!

"Yes! You're an animal.  Feeling it!  You're a Tiger!!"

best way to finish a shoot

   And remember to Bookmark our website, www.dunwelldoughnuts.com, and stay tuned in February when we release our information on which places will be carrying our fresh vegan doughnuts and which days you should drop in to get your very own!!

Beaming with excitement,
Dan

Who wants a doughnut?

Getting our Business off the Ground!

This has been a CRAZY day. Dan and had to make a couple batches of Doughnuts for our Photo shoot with Ryan Pfluger tomorrow but on top of that we had to pick up some of our new equiptment. Because we have yet to buy a truck we are pretty much relying on our legs and arms to get us through. This is dan carrying a bakery rack while I am lugging 10 sheet pans. But we got them back to our location and finished up baking. I will show you some of the doughnuts we made tomorrow!

Pine Box and Lula's

Wow. Things are starting to get crazy and wonderful all at once with Dun-Well Doughnuts. We found some financing for some much needed equipment and Dan and I are buying those tools tomorrow. Hopefully with all of these new gadgets and with all of our planning Dan and I will be able to hit the ground running when we launch.

We were originally hoping to start doing some wholesaling before our official launch date of February 2^nd but I Think we might have to hold off just to make sure we have everything in order. I think we will know all of that Friday.

Speaking of the Launch: boy, do Dan and I have some exciting news. Heather and Jeff of Pine Box have agreed to help us out with some of the drinks that night. If you haven’t been to Pine Box  you missing out.

First off it is a Vegan Bar…which may sound strange, but when you are sipping down on some of their home made baileys or snacking on their vegan empanadas from V spot you will know why this is such a great idea. My favorite part of the bar though, besides Heather’s incredible knowledge of all things Venture Bros, has to be the ethical hunting game that is ironically placed next to the bar. 

Dan and I are extremely excited to have these new friends of ours help us make this  launch party a total VEGAN EVENT.

Not only is Pine Box helping us out that night but our good friends at Lula’s Sweet Apothecary Blythe and Derek are possibly going to be making a special ice cream that day….and we might have a doughnut sunday to share with a few lucy friends…. But this isn’t all pinned down yet so… keep hoping.

Well… Dan and I have a day of doughnut making and fun times tomorrow…I am sure we will have more to add then

Hope everyone is getting as excited as we are.

CH

OUR LAUNCH IS COMING!!!

Okay everyone, here are some updates you might want to know about. Our launch date is still set for the 2nd of February which Dan and I are extremely excited about. What makes us most excited is the fact that we are in talks with one of our favorite NYC businesses MooShoes to host us that evening. So, hopefully people will be able to come, have a drink, eat a doughnut or two and look at some amazing vegan shoes with some really great people.

This Friday Dan and I are suppose to shoot some of our doughnuts with my favorite photographer (who is also vegan and a really great person) Ryan Pfluger. I can't wait to see what Ryan does...his work is so incredible and, if you didn't know, was named one of the coolest (or sexiest, I can't remember which) vegans.

Oh the ideas that have been streaming through our heads for doughnuts. I wish we could make them all now. But we have agreed that we are only going to make 12 different kinds to start out with. Him and I don't want to bite off more than we can chew. They are all amazing... Some great classic flavors and a few new ones just to keep the pot stirred. Hopefully Dan and I can soon be working with a plethora of other vegan places in NYC to bring you some great new flavors....one that we haven't made yet but are looking forward to trying would be a smore doughnut. (so...if you are out there Sweet & Sara get ready for our call)

Well...We look forward to seeing you all on Groundhog day for our launch.

-CH

We're Going Doughnuts...

Willkommen, Bienvenue, and Welcome to the Dun-Well Doughnut blog!

Christopher and I have been working on making Dun-Well Doughnuts a reality for nearly a year now, feels like there's almost too much to be able to catch you all up on, but here are a few things worth noting:

Don't think we could have picked a better city to start this off in!  NYC is practically synonymous with food.  Lots and lots of food.  As much as vegan options have increased in the past decade, those of us with a notorious sweet tooth have noticed the absence of one item in particular:  The doughnut. There are of course a variety of doughnuts in the world, and almost every country has its own take on them.  Dun-well doughnuts specializes in what is known as the "yeast-risen doughnut" which is truly the golden standard among doughnut lovers.  These are light, fluffy and sweet doughnuts that melt a little with each bite.

We're not simply aiming to make a great vegan doughnut.  We're about making an amazing doughnut, period.  Our goal is to win over taste buds and hearts, and we do not consider the fact that they are vegan an obstacle.  In fact, the search for better vegan alternatives has led us to superior tastes and textures.

We're both so happy, thankful, and thrilled to be able to deliver this new and exciting treat to the community, and we do it with confidence as a vegan owned and operated business that understands the importance you place on your food choices.  Looking forward to being a part of this revolution for more wholesome and compassionate lifestyles!

With love
Dan (who put the "Dun" in Dun-Well)

We are happy to announce our official launch date of February 2nd 2010

Dan and I have worked for almost a year now getting things together to open our own Vegan Doughnut Business and it is nearly a reality. We are choosing to start small and do wholesale retailing until we can establish ourselves and our brand which will allow us to open a retail shop here in NYC. 

We look forward to supplying the Vegan community here in NYC with our natural vegan doughnuts 

www.dunwelldoughnuts.com