BLOG — DONUTS

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.

Having a donut is like celebrating your birthday on any day you want. A miniature birthday cake all to yourself. Go ahead be greedy, you don't have to share, no cutting slices and passing them around. You get it all to yourself, without the fuss of candles and off tune singing. Some presents would be nice, but sacrifices have to be made if you want to celebrate your birthday two, three times a week. And you can't celebrate with any old donut, thou donuts, like pizza, even when they're bad, they're still pretty good, but when they're really good, it's like eating a bit of heaven. A sort of heaven on earth, if you will. Which brings us to the point of this post. Donut Friend.

Donut Friend, is the heavenly vision of Mark Trombino. You're probably asking yourself, "Where do I know that name from?". Well, Mark is a record producer, worked with a couple of little bands like Drive Like Jehu, Jimmy Eat World, and Blink-182. So he knows music, but more importantly does he know donuts? And with one look at the menu, it's pretty clear he does.

Now that you've read the ingredients, you've probably come to the same conclusion that we did. These donuts are practically health bars with all those fresh fruits. Well, now is the time to gas up the car, fill out the vacation card, no show at school, pack up your tent and plan a road trip, because Donut Friend opens next month and you're going to want to get there at least a few days early to claim your spot in line, behind us naturally.

Once every few thousand years comes an invention that changes the world. Changes the world in a way that effects every man, woman, and child. Some would argue that it was the automobile or the computer but those people would be wrong, dead wrong. In fact, some people would call those people idiots. Because we all know that the single most important invention was invented by Dominique Ansel. Did he cure cancer? Find life on Mars? Purify water for 3rd world nations? No, he combined the flaky goodness of a croissant with the heavenly perfection of a donut. May I present you with the Cronut.

Ansel was recognized in 2013 with the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef. And if all goes according to plan, he will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his Cronut. Because if there is one thing that can bring all humanity together is fried dough and sugar. Did I mention that they are pumped full of cream? No? I didn't did I? They are pumped full of cream, might as well be pumped full of angel tears because this is as close to heaven as some of us may ever get. 

There is only one place in the entire world to buy a Crount and that is at Dominque's Bakery in New York. They are released every morning and sell out within minutes. For those of you lucky enough to live in New York, you should probably drop out of school, quit your job, abandon your family, postpone that life saving surgery and go wait in line. There can be nothing more important than tasting one of these Cronuts.