YOUR FRIEND THE DONUT FRIEND
Jerusalem, Mecca, Varanasi, Disneyland, like all holy places, one must make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. We made the trek to Highland Park last week to the temple of Mark Trombino's Donut Friend. Mark got his start in the donut business like most people. He started out in the music industry, making good music sound great for the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Motion City Soundtrack, Midtown...the list goes on and on here.
Mark's take on the donut is a refreshing one. Sure, they have some with fun band-inspired names, but it's way more than that. He's brought a novel approach to an industry that hasn't seen a new idea since the donut hole was discovered in 1913 (we aren't counting the Cronut as a new idea since it's still just a donut, and fried croissants have been around since the early 80's). Mark's idea, put simply, has combined the ease of ordering at Subway with the toppings of a PinkBerry yogurt shop.
You can pick your donut canvas from several choices. We went with vanilla cake. They take your donut, slice it in half and that's where the fun begins. Now, we move over to the fillings. Locally sourced jams and other concoctions of delight await. The raspberry habanero jam was calling our name.
From there you move down to glazes, yes glazes. And then, regrettably there is only one last step, your toppings. Candies, nuts, sauces, sugars, bacons, and more. Enough to blow your mind that this is really happening....that this place really exists and it's not just a fever dream brought on by the onslaught of Stage 2 Diabetes.
Be sure to check out this place. It's pretty amazing, but we suspect that most of you didn't get halfway through this post before jumping into your car and heading to the new holy land, which is 5107 York Blvd.