“Who doesn’t love doughnuts?”
That’s the question that kept roiling through Scott McTavish’s head as he and fellow restaurateur, and longtime buddy, Juan Perello pondered a new ancillary venture to their Taps & Tacos establishment in Port Moody.
McTavish, who started the restaurant, and Perello, who managed it for several years, knew they wanted to keep it simple by offering fun fare that customers could hold in their hand.
The answer to their nagging question — Sweet Talk Donuts — opens Saturday, Jan. 13.
McTavish said while the fruit of their brainstorming might seem obvious, their journey to get there has been anything but.
He said they knew they wanted to stay in Port Moody because of its growing reputation for cultivating creative foodie entrepreneurs as well as the legions of young families they saw moving into the new condo and townhouse developments sprouting across the city, especially in their Moody Centre neighbourhood. But finding the perfect location proved elusive.
So McTavish and Perello decided to wait out construction of a new condo project right next door to Taps & Tacos on Moody Street that would have several retail spaces on the ground floor.
The advent in 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic caused several delays.
Perello said rather than panicking, they used the downtime to test recipes and conduct market research, offering their doughnuts at established businesses like some of the breweries along nearby Brewers Row and holding their own pop-up sales.
“We had to see what people want,” McTavish said.
More often than not, the response was overwhelming.
Their takes on doughnut classics like the Boston Creme boosted with cocoa nibs, a sugary twist and the Creme Brulé along with newer concoctions like the blueberry pancake inevitably sold out, often in minutes.
“Port Moody shows up,” McTavish said. “It’s a good problem to have.”
The duo have spent the past several months building out their space and teasing its opening on social media.
To provide as much indoor space for customers to enjoy their sweet treats on blue upholstered benches, tall stools and in quiet booths, they’re making their doughnuts at a nearby commissary kitchen then just walking them over to the shop.
It’s a concept McTavish and Perello are confident will be a recipe for success.
“Port Moody deserves to have a good doughnut shop,” McTavish said.
Sweet Talk Donuts is located at 87 Moody St. It officially opens on Saturday at 8 a.m.
