Graham Hornigold on bringing his high-end pastry credentials to doughnuts

The gourmet finger doughnut brand's wholesale and concessions business has been temporarily slowed by the pandemic so it is looking to forge ahead on its own and is currently in talks with landlords for a site in Shoreditch as well as a further premises in East London.

“We want three or four sites across London to utilise as central hubs that will also service the delivery market as well as in-store customers and we also want to use them as launchpads for direct sales via our website,” says Hornigold, who currently operates standalone sites in Wembley and King’s Cross.

The latter opened last week and is a slightly tweaked ‘to-go’ version of the format that trades from a 55sq ft in Coal Drops Yard.

Longboys was founded in 2019 by Hornigold - who is best known for his long stint as group pastry chef for Hakkasan group - and his New Zealand-born partner Heather Kaniuk, a highly experienced pastry chef in her own right having held top roles at the Mandarin Oriental and Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard London.

“The thing that stands out most about Longboys is our shape. We are long," says Hornigold. "It’s something different for the market and it’s also better for flavour because you get the full taste in every bite. The way we position the garnish means we can give a different mouthfeel too."

"We’re trying to bring our high-end pastry expertise and skill to what is widely regarded as the most eaten confection. We want to take higher end pastry and cake to the masses, and we’re also looking to promote our consultancy business Smart Patisserie."

The brand has concessions in Selfridges, Harrods and Sourced Market but the latter two are currently on hold due to the pandemic.

The diminutive new King's Cross site has an understated black exterior with bi-folding doors and the interior is painted white to make the doughnuts and navy blue and neon pink branding pop.

The clear glass display cabinet and menu board showcase a range of Longboys brioche finger doughnuts filled with home-made compotes, fillings, glazes and toppings.

Varieties include Triple Chocolate Brownie; Strawberry and White Chocolate; and Lemon Meringue Pie.

Single doughnuts are priced at £3.90, boxes of three cost £11.50 and six can be had for £22.00.

Served alongside the doughnuts is Assembly Roast coffee, Karma sodas and Moju cold-pressed juices.