by Patty Moncrief
After picking my daughter up from school on Wednesday, I told her that we needed to make a quick stop at Publix. After all of the protests, she began to negotiate. She would go to the store with me, if we could go to Da Vinci’s Donuts afterward. It was such a sacrifice for me to make (not). What a pleasant surprise when we walked in. It felt more like a Starbucks atmosphere than a traditional donut shop. There was a huge blackboard on the wall with all the different varieties of doughnuts to choose from. You could choose maple bacon, tiramisu, sprinkles, birthday cake or one of the other 40 varieties. 
My first thought was about how you can have a kitchen capacity to make all these. Once they started to make our donuts, it all became clear. They have all of the small plain donuts already baked. That’s when the customization begins. They put a spread on top and then dip the doughnuts in the toppings that create your doughnut. Now it made sense! We ordered chocolate chip pancake, cannoli, ho ho ho and s’mores. 4 for $4.95. Both of my daughters had a favorite. Cannoli and ho ho ho won the award, although all received a thumbs up. Consensus was chocolate chip pancake tasted most like its name.
There was a friendly lady working the cash register. I started asking her questions about how long they had been open, etc. That is when I found out that it was her son, Ryan’s business. She was in town from Texas to help him with his grand opening this past Saturday and she was beaming with pride. She had me at hello! Since I was taking pictures of everything, I had the opportunity to meet Ryan Boon to make sure it was OK. I started chatting it up with him too. He is precious! If you are from the south, you know that is a big compliment. Although he is from Texas, he and his wife live in the Dunwoody area now. He is excited about opening his store in The Dunwoody 
Village because he loves our community and the local support. In my opinion, he picked a great spot. It made me feel proud of Dunwoody. If you have a middle school or high school aged child, you know how popular it is to hang out in “the village”. With Village Burger, Bruster’s, Starbucks, Moe’s and more all right there, it is a fun place for them to hang out. We live within walking distance so it is particularly convenient for my kids and me.
Da Vinci’s Donuts has ample seating so it would be a good place for morning meetings or just getting some work done. They are open from 6am-4pm daily except Sundays and have free WIFI. In full disclosure, neither Ryan nor his Mom had any idea we were coming.
Until we eat again,
