New pastry shop on the Strip presents doughnuts as art
It’s the art of doughnuts — and doughnuts as art — at the new Donutique in The Venetian.
Keris Kuwana, a longtime local culinarian, opened the shop in early August. Unlike some doughnut purveyors in Las Vegas these days, the Hawaiian-born Kuwana possesses serious pastry credentials, including her gig as corporate pastry chef for LEV Group, the hospitality company behind restaurants such as Harlø, La Strega and Al Solito Posto (and Donutique).
Kuwana presents a truffle honey doughnut with hand-painted chocolate bees. Her pairing of blueberry compote and yuzu curd reminds us these ingredients are classic pastry partners. Matcha cream fills a green tea doughnut; another confection shelters cheesecake and dried strawberries.
A miniature slice of birthday cake tops a vanilla-glazed doughnut with confetti sprinkles made in-house. White and gold sprinkles, and dragées in royal blue, spatter a second version of vanilla-glazed, creating an elegant effect.
Donutique also offers sweets like handmade chocolates, doughnut-shaped macarons, chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons, and chocolate-covered strawberries. Coffee selections round out the menu.
You enter the shop beneath a cluster of petaled chandeliers set with extravagant flora. Doughnuts and other confections are displayed on cake and serving stands along marble counters. There are café tables and banquettes for lingering over coffee and baked goods. Classical busts, hand-painted with graffiti, add some edge.
Donutique lies just beyond the LOVE sculpture at The Venetian and opens at 8 a.m. daily. Visit donutique.com or follow @donutiquelasvegas on Instagram.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on X.
