La Rue Doughnuts, a pastry shop from Rowlett chefs Amy and Casey La Rue, will open in Dallas’ Trinity Groves on August 29, 2024. Here, customers will find a coffee bar and up to 14 varieties of cake donuts, crullers, kolaches and the like.
The couple previously owned Carte Blanche, the now-closed Greenville Avenue shop that served pastries in the morning and fine dining in the evening. That business has been split into two, allowing for more focus: Amy La Rue makes pastries at La Rue Doughnuts with the help of her husband. One day, Casey hopes to open a separate fine dining restaurant. (A lease has not yet been signed.)
Although Amy has the talent to create all kinds of beautiful pastries, La Rue Doughnuts takes its name seriously.
“We’re really trying to put the doughnut at the forefront,” she said. “It’s an American staple.”
She points out that none of her donut recipes are based on a ready-made mix. Glazes and curds are made from scratch.
La Rue’s menu showcases this finesse, with dishes including passionfruit and butterscotch brioche doughnuts, churro cardamom fritters, pumpkin spice cake doughnuts, old-fashioneds and more.
The plan is to keep the nostalgic doughnut “classic, not trendy,” Amy said.
Rotating dishes on the menu include a za’tar kolache with beef sausage and a brioche pocket with chicken, green chilies and jalapeño chimichurri.
La Rue Donuts opens in Trinity Groves in Dallas
Doughnuts, not croissants
Crullers from the former Carte Blanche were among the shop’s most popular. Crullers are a type of doughnut made from choux pastry that is piped into a circle and deep-fried. Amys are crispy on the outside and soft and light on the inside.
Crullers are only $2 at La Rue Doughnuts. Brioche doughnuts, which are larger, cost $4 to $5.50. Amy also has some gluten-free doughnuts.
In particular, the store will not sell croissants or pretzels, despite complaints from some former customers.
What’s next at Trinity Groves
The La Rues took over the former Cake Bar in Trinity Groves. They painted the cabinets emerald green and installed gold geometric wallpaper themselves.
The complex has undergone drastic changes in the ten years since it opened, and the first iteration of Trinity Groves as a restaurant “incubator” is now a distant memory.
For the next phase of life, several million square meters of office space and 1,000 hotel rooms are planned in the district.
“In 10 years, this whole space will look different,” said partner Sam Romano in May 2024.
For Amy, the biggest advantages of Trinity Groves were the larger parking spaces and the larger kitchen than at Greenville Avenue. She also appreciates the private patio with views of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
“It’s a nice getaway and I always feel like that’s important when it comes to food,” she said.
La Rue Doughnuts is located at 3011 Gulden Lane (at the rear of the main restaurant building of Trinity Groves), Dallas. It opens on August 29, 2024. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Fridays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more food news, visit Sarah Blaskovich on X at @sblaskovich.
