Bay Area Edition | February 2026

Dining

BY ROO MOODY

Jonny Boulos said if he ever went back into the kitchen, it would be for himself and not for someone else. Boulos had previously done chef work before switching to restaurant management, but said he always had aspirations to create a local coee shop. After meeting Boulos in 2019, Cody Vaughn heard about his idea and wanted in. Vaughn had experience working in corporate coee shops and said she loved the atmosphere and being able to talk with customers. “Cody and I met and got wind of each other’s ideas, and then we slowly formulated this plan of a local place that does everything from scratch and tries to stay as local as we can,” Boulos said. How it happened As the two began planning out the concept, they realized they wanted to oer something that they said wasn’t available in the area: craft doughnuts. After a lot of tinkering with avors, Blackline Cof- fee and Donuts opened in April 2023, serving unique beverages and doughnuts that are brioche-based. On the menu Each month, the space oers around 9-11 dough- nuts, and a gluten-free choice, featuring a mix of year-round favorites and seasonal options. For January, the display case exhibited the Thumbprint Cookie Donut, made with raspberry jam, a raspberry glaze and a shortbread crumble, as well as the Hummingbird, a doughnut with tangy cream cheese frosting rolled in crumbled hummingbird cake. “[We’re] very much a yin to the yang,” Boulos said. “The things Cody said she enjoyed to do, I was like, ‘I don’t enjoy doing those types of things as much as I really should,’ and so it just became this good circle of strengths and weaknesses.” Local duo serves specialty doughnuts, craft coee to Houston’s Bay Area

Seasonal avors include the Puppy Chow doughnut with a dark chocolate glaze and the Red Velvet Cake with homemade cream cheese frosting.

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203 E. NASA Parkway, Webster www.blacklinecoeedonuts.com

Boulos opened Blackline Coee & Donuts in 2023 with Cody Vaughn.

The store makes fresh brioche doughnuts every day that rest overnight before serving.

BAY AREA EDITION