By Carolyn Webb
When she was 15, Belinda Donaghey worked her first full-time weekend shift at her family’s business, the American Doughnut Kitchen, at Queen Victoria Market.
The pace of production inside the old white van was fast and furious. “It was brutal,” Donaghey says.
Van life: Third generation American Doughnut Kitchen owner Belinda Donaghey.Credit: Alex Coppel
“But at the same time, it was so much fun because I was working with my grandparents.
“I remember my pa [Arnold] standing behind me, telling me to grab three doughnuts at a time, for bagging, and my hands were child-sized.
Arnold Bridges at the American Doughnut Kitchen in the 1990s.
“My nana [Vera] had large hands and she could pick up three doughnuts at a time.”
Thirty years later, Donaghey and her husband Justin, a former electronics technician, now own the American Doughnut Kitchen, which has been in business for 75 years.
The business may have a social media account and accept card payment, but it still follows the example of the founders from 1950 – Donaghey’s grandfather, Arnold Bridges, and his friend, Dave Christie.
That is: take fresh balls of dough, deep-fry them minutes before purchase and serve them fresh and hot, with jam and sugar.
Staff roll dough, cook and fill orders in a nimble dance, which entertains customers.
The van – the founders kept the “American” reference after they bought the business from a Sydney vendor – spurs memories for many customers.
Belinda Donaghey, owner of the American Doughnut Kitchen, with customers Rhyanna Zaharom (left) and Mia Rahimi. Credit: Alex Coppel
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece said: “I have been visiting the van since I was a kid, and now I take my own children.
“A hot jam doughnut at the Queen Victoria Market is one of the most satisfying things in a Melbourne life.”
Actor and cancer charity Love Your Sister founder Samuel Johnson said that as a teenager, he lived in nearby Victoria Street and his “whole clan” would visit the van for sugar hits.
Mustafa Celiker, of Craigieburn, who bought five doughnuts for his mum on Thursday, recalled his parents in the 1970s buying him doughnuts after shopping for vegetables. “It was a big treat,” he said.
Mustafa Celiker remembers going to American Doughnut Kitchen as a child in the 1970s.Credit: Alex Coppel
Donaghey, who last year opened the Kitchen’s second outlet, at Prahran Market, originally wanted to be a coroner, but was devastated by the death of her grandpa Arnold in 1996.
While working on weekdays for scientific companies, Donaghey worked on the doughnut van on Sundays.
Credit: Matt Golding
Later, Donaghey and her husband gradually became more involved in the business.
Donaghey’s mother, Julie Boening, started working for the business at age 12 and continued until age 70, when she and husband Karl retired in 2023.
Christie died in 1997. The Donagheys purchased Christie’s son’s share of the business in 2023.
Donaghey is happy to be making dough from dough, rather than law or science.
Belinda Donaghey (right) with her parents, Karl and Julie Boening, in 2021.
“I realised a few years ago that everything happens for a reason,” she said. “I think my path was meant to take this diversion.”
She calls herself a custodian of her grandfather’s legacy as well as managing director.
“It’s such an honour to be around for this long, and to be part of something that is so close to so many people’s hearts.”
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