FOOD & WINE
Alex McEntire left a corporate desk job to have fun and open her own donut shop. (Photos by Pablo Robles)
Breaking the Mold Chin Up Donuts colors outside the lines with pastries By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski alley native Alex McEntire wanted something different. As she worked a corporate job in Seattle, she filled her free time making donuts. She played with recipes and experimented with flavors. McEntire, who grew up along the Glendale/Peoria
border, was inspired by salty, savory and spicy donuts. “I found I was having more fun with donuts than sitting behind my desk,” McEntire says. Just before the pandemic, McEntire opened Chin Up Donuts at 7325 E. Frank Lloyd Wright, Suite 103, Scottsdale. “The whole mission is to provide joy and positivity,” she says. “I opened during the pandemic, when the world and the community needed a little more of it.” Chin Up Donuts is known for its Everything Bagel donut, which shares a salty, sweet combination. McEn-
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tire acknowledges it’s a little, well, questionable. “I have to persuade a lot of people to try it,” she says with a laugh. “It’s such a fun combination that your brain gets a little confused. “We switch up donuts with other fun flavors.” Whoa Wasabi is a yeast-raised donut with a sweet and spicy wasabi glaze topped with a ginger-infused caramel drizzle. Sriracha-Cha, another yeastraised donut, has a sweet and spicy Sriracha glaze, and is coated in cinnamon sugar sprinkled with red pepper flakes. “Whatever I eat, I think about how I
