when i was in high school, my mom started a habit of going to the gym in the morning. after her workout, she'd pass by the local bakery and bring home doughnuts for me, my father and brother. i don't know if it was a way to fatten us up so that her resulting weight loss would be even more pronounced, or if it was just a misguided attempt to please her breakfast-hungry family, but either way, i grew up eating ,and loving, doughnuts.
naturally, when i moved to NY i was excited by the ubiquitous dunkin donuts, but soon found their doughnuts stale and too sugary. since, i've moved on to greener pastures.
a round-up of my very favorite doughnuts:
1. doughnut plant
old time doughnuts re-created loving by hand by mark, who uses his grandfather's recipe from the early 1900's. he used to deliver them by bicycle all over the city, but has since opened up a tiny storefront in the lower east side. the history is cute, but the doughnuts are unreal; meyer lemon, valrona chocolate, pomegranate, peanut butter and jelly. there is a place near my work that stocks them and whenever i have a bad day, i pick one up on the way home and inhale it before i get to the end of the block. sometimes, if the day is really bad, before i even get to the front door. this is probably the main reason i'm not getting any skinnier.
(i just checked the website and they just opened a new location in seoul, korea. seemingly random, i feel this is my personal calling to move to korea, having just discovered the revolutionizing joys of korean fried chicken this past weekend.)
Doughnut Plant
379 Grand Street
NY, NY 10002
2. craft
its a little clichéd in the foodie world to mention craft, tom colicchio's flagship restaurant, especially since he is now known as "the bald guy on top chef", but i actually really love the food. i love the entire restaurant; the soothing rothko decor, the heavy copper pots and the sweetly delivered breakfast treats wrapped up to go at the end of the meal (last time it was a chocolate chip scone). and for dessert they have doughnuts: airy, light, warm, sugar-cinnamony (is that a word?) little balls served with various jams and dips. what's there not to love?
Craft
43 East 19th Street
New York, NY 10003
Other locations in LA, Atlanta and Dallas
3. peter pan
i found this place by accident when grace was picking me up in the car from greenpoint. we were driving by and i saw a sign for doughnuts. i yelled at her to stop and i hopped out, shortly returning with a creme-filled one that cost me less than a dollar. (thanks grace for all your patience with me!) little did i know this was a well-known and celebrated place. i found out shortly after i ate the doughnut, because things this good are never secrets.
Peter Pan Bakery
727 Manhattan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
4. krispy kreme
it would be wrong to omit this from my list just because it is controversial; some people hate it because it is too sweet, mushy, etc etc. but if you've ever had a hot one right off the conveyor belt, you know this is pretty close to doughnut nirvana.
Krispy Kreme
Various Locations
5. jelly filled doughnut in vieques, pr
i was in puerto rico last year and right by the main ferry on the tiny island of vieques was a hole-in-the-wall bakery that had all sorts of delicious looking goods, as well as jelly doughnuts. i don't know if it was because i was in a tropical paradise, or the salty air, but this doughnut was divine. i have a very embarrassing picture of me eating it looking CRAZY. i guess that's what i look like when i eat...?
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