District Doughnuts at 749 8th Street, SE, Across from the Marine Barracks
The Star of District Doughnut’s Kitchen – The Fryer – A Gluten Free Option Coming in September Will Have It’s Own Dedicated Fryer
CEO Greg Menna Readies District Doughnuts for Friday’s Soft Opening
8th Street District Doughnuts Offers Free Gourmet Donuts Fridays Throughout August
Soft Opening Begins Tomorrow, August 8
by Larry Janezich
District Donuts, the new gourmet doughnut shop at 749 8th Street, SE, will hold the first of its Friday soft openings tomorrow, August 8. CEO Greg Menna said that 500 doughnuts will be given to the first 500 patrons visiting the shop (one per customer) starting in the evening at 6:00pm. The soft openings will continue every Friday through August until the hard opening on Monday, September 8. The menu anticipates five or more flavors at $2 – $3 each. The two flavors offered for free tomorrow: Brown Butter Cinnamon and Dulce de Leche Vanilla Bean. For more on these and other doughnuts, go here: http://www.districtdoughnut.com/
Asked what makes DD’s donuts special, Menna said that the dough for every variety of donut is made from scratch – a unique creation of executive pastry chef, Christine Schaefer. Schaefer learned baking at Le Cordon Bleu and ran a gourmet bakery in Buffalo, NY. DD’s goal, he said, was to “make the flavor experience more powerful – unique.” The doughnuts are the traditional shape, but slightly smaller in size than what we’re accustomed to – Menna says, “not an indulgence, a treat.”
Until now, District Doughnuts has been a catering business and this is the first of what Menna and his partners Schaefer and Juan Pablo Segura hope will be many.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
False. At 6:30 pm on 8-15 I strolled up to the nice young man at the door and asked if I was going to get a free donut. His answer, “No. We are in the donut business.”
Also, no sense of humor. When I said, “Ooops, I have to go clear something up, I just told all the Marines it was free donut night,” he did not smile.