These gourmet doughnuts have gained a cult following.

Crosstown Doughnuts is about to turn 4 years old in April this year. Based in London, it has changed the UK’s perception of what a humble doughnut can be. Crosstown is the brainchild of antipodeans JP Then and Adam Wills. They wanted to get involved in the coffee business but wanted a food offering that was more than just the standard banana bread and pastries that everyone else in London was doing.

The idea? Fresh gourmet doughnuts! JP & Adam started to assemble the team they would need to make an impact in London’s extremely competitive food market. Two people they approached were fellow New Zealanders, baker whizz Dean Brettschneider and chef Peter Gordon.

Crosstown tested their market by taking a stall in one of London’s oldest markets on Leather Lane in Shoreditch. Word of their doughnuts soon spread around London. Within six months, Crosstown was selling its doughnuts in the Selfridges Food Hall. By the end of the first year, they were in Whole Foods flagship stores in Piccadilly and Kensington.

By April 2015, Crosstown opened its first permanent store in Soho in London’s West End. This was a great opportunity for the team to pair their doughnuts up with coffee in a purpose-built store. Further openings occurred in Brick Lane, Camden Market, Victoria, Piccadilly, Spitalfields Market and Fitzrovia. 

Now, Crosstown is about to open Vegan Crosstown this April, in Marylebone. The new outlet will offer doughnuts seven days a week to its vegan customers, as well as a bespoke drinks menu.

The menu at Crosstown is constantly changing and follows the seasons of the year. Popular flavours include Crème Brulee, Sea Salt Caramel & Banana Cream, as well as current seasonal favourite — Sicilian Blood Orange with a pistachio crumble on a beetroot dough.

Says Wills: “These doughnuts have been specially designed for the British palate, focusing on the best quality seasonal ingredients that we can find. The people of London have truly embraced Crosstown as their very own and it is an honour to serve them.”