Cheap Eats - Sublime Doughnuts opens in Midtown

It all started when an executive visited Kamal Grant’s Marietta high school to speak about his job in research and development for Dunkin’ Donuts. The presentation inspired Grant — playing around with ingredients for a living sounded pretty sweet. After a stint in the Navy, a degree from the Culinary Institute of American and time at the American Institute of Baking, Grant found himself working in an unfulfilling job on the manufacturing side of the baking business. He branched out on his own and opened Sublime Doughnuts (535 10th Street. 404-897-1801. www.myspace.com/sublimedoughnuts) where his sugary teenage dreams are finally being realized.

Grant has his dough down – his doughnuts ($1/each and $10/dozen) spring back into shape after each bite and taste like butter instead of fryer oil. Basic varieties abound, but Grant’s innovative creations set this independent bakery apart. His take on a Boston cream doughnut is whimsically shaped into a proud “A” for Atlanta, filled with silky custard and dipped in premium Belgian Callebaut chocolate. Adorable heart-shaped powdered donuts that ooze tart raspberry preserves are not only delicious, but also a cute way to let your sweetheart know how much you care. Chocolate cake doughnuts aren’t simply frosted here. The “rocky road,” a chocolate cake doughnut coated with gooey marshmallow fluff, crumbled walnuts and milk chocolate drizzles, is a decadent delight. Instead of a basic glazed twist, Grant forms the dough into a breast cancer awareness ribbon and drapes it with a pink strawberry glaze made with real strawberries (and that actually tastes like strawberries). But the best one we’ve eaten is a simple yet swoon-worthy yeast doughnut slathered in sticky dulce de leche – it was gone two seconds after the first bite.