Pastry Chef Janina O’Leary Launches Sweet Doughnut Pop-Ups

Pastry chef Janina O’Leary is bringing back her famous doughnuts with a bakery pop-up series. The first takes place at General Tso’Boy on Saturday, August 27 starting at 10:30 p.m. until sold out. On deck for the pop-up is the Fancy Pants doughnut, inspired by her "fine dining background," explained O’Leary. It’s made with a brioche doughnut, strawberry rose jam, and lemon curd. Check out the full line-up below.

Update, September 12: For Play Dough's next two pop-ups, O'Leary's taking over Swoop House on Sunday, September 25 starting at 11 a.m., and then Franklin Barbecue on Sunday, October 2 at 9 a.m. Will this mean a potentially barbecue-filled doughnut will be in the works?

O’Leary is also collaborating with General Tso’Boy for a limited soft serve made with sweet milk, matcha fudge sauce and green tea powder, available on Friday, August 19, for about a week.

Desserts are O’Leary’s strong suit, like her lauded brioche doughnuts. She was also a semifinalist for the James Beard Awards' Rising Star Chef in 2013.

Janina and her husband Sean O’Leary, who was then-interim executive director of LaV, both left the restaurant in October 2015, which soon closed down at the beginning of the year. The O’Learys have been hosting occasional pop-up dinners at Swoop House. She also previously worked for Trace, Del Posto, and Per Se.

Play Dough Pop-Up’s Menu
Fancy Pants: brioche doughnut, strawberry rose jam, lemon curd, $3
#Tsogood: matcha fudge sauce with Tso’Boy Sweet Milk soft serve, chocolate chip cookie doughnut, $5
Cherry on Top: bourbon coconut pastry cream, piña, cherry, $3
Sugar Coated: brioche doughnut holes, $3