Call it the curse of the bombolini: Zeke’s DC Donutz is going through another shift since changing its unintentionally controversial name before opening day. Despite reports that the shop at 2029 P Street has shuttered, owner Aaron Gordon says the closing is temporary, and that the retro doughnut spot may open again, in either its current space or another.
“It’s about a 50/50 chance right now whether we could reopen, or find another location,” says Gordon.
The reason for the locked doors is that the basement-level storefront isn’t equipped for a standard kitchen hood above its fryers—one of its uses is to help eliminate odors—and the current ventless system isn’t doing a good enough job distancing neighbors from the scent of freshly fried dough. The Zeke’s team is still in the process of investigating a possible solution and hasn’t yet sought out other spaces, but Gordon says he’d like to stay in the Dupont or Logan Circle areas. Stay tuned.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
