stories
Just Fine Donuts
It’s not hard to find cherry blossom-themed items in Alexandria and Washington, D.C., especially during spring. The region practically turns pink overnight. But Russell Gravatt, owner of Just Fine Donuts and The Dairy Godmother in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood, isn’t the type to drizzle some pink icing on a donut and call it seasonal.
For Russell’s pink icing? He sources sakura powder, made from cherry blossom flowers and leaves, imported directly from Japan so that when you bite into one of his cherry blossom donuts, you’re tasting the real thing: delicate, floral and memorable.
2026 is the third year Russell and his team have offered seasonal cherry blossom donuts. This year also marks 20 years of The Dairy Godmother and five years of Just Fine Donuts, two businesses built on the same instinct: make something extraordinary and watch people enjoy it for themselves.
Russell’s philosophy runs deep at Just Fine Donuts, where every single donut is vegan and nut-free, though Russell didn’t always lead with that information. When he first learned the craft of vegan donut-making, he knew it was something special. So, he started handing them to people without saying a word about what was in them. Or rather, what wasn’t.
“Sometimes when someone learns something is vegan, they take three steps back. These donuts are incredible, and we wanted people to experience that,” said Russell.
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Every batch of donuts is made from scratch each morning. Nothing gets carried over to the next day. When there are extras at the end of the day, Russell and his team give them away to their business neighbors on the block. It’s a gesture that fits the warm and connected spirit of Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood.
This spirit has been a core part of Just Fine Donuts since the beginning. And the “beginning” for this shop happened to also be a pandemic. When the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Russell and his team rolled a cart right out the front door.
“Donuts were deemed essential,” said Russell.
And so they sold them, one box at a time, from that cart on the sidewalk. During a time when so many communities felt disconnected, Just Fine Donuts was spreading joy through Del Ray and beyond, one batch at a time. There’s something about that image that tells you everything you need to know about Russell Gravatt.
Even the name carries a story. ‘Just fine’ was something Russell’s dad used to say all the time; it’s one of those family phrases that sticks. It became the name of the Gravatt family boat, and eventually, the name on the door. A framed photo of that boat still hangs inside the shop.
The Dairy Godmother, Russell’s original Alexandria custard shop, has its own storied history. A framed photo on the wall captures the day in 2009 when President Obama brought his daughters in for a visit, one of the shop’s many encounters with politicians and the Secret Service over the years.
At the heart of both businesses has always been the Del Ray neighborhood itself: the regulars, the families and the people who know that a bright pink box on the counter means it’s going to be a good day.
