Jaunted

Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Tucson / → All Tags

Do-Nuts So Old School, They Won't Drop the Hyphen

Probably everyday since 1935, Tucson residents have driven past the massive Le Cave's Bakery, looked up at its vintage facade and wondered, "what's a vegetable do-nut?"

The answer, it turns out, is both deceptive and delicious. Of course the recipe is an old family secret, but we're assured that despite the beautiful greasiness, it's not anything too lard-y.

Whatever it is, these old fashioned do-nuts have attracted admirers far and wide for their perfect balance of light, fluffy texture and rich, sugary taste. Additionally, Le Cave's keeps their do-nuts traditional by sticking to the old-school flavors: powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, chocolate frosted and maple glazed, each one completely covered in a healthy coating of the sweet stuff—no bald spots here.

While the bakery is not necessarily a place for donut inventiveness, it is a stop on the route of donut history, where you will leave wondering if any of the new-fangled flavors from other donut shops are really necessary.

Related Stories:
· Le Cave's Bakery [Yelp!]
· Are Donuts the New Cupcakes? [Jaunted]
· Designer Doughnuts the Bay Area Way [Jaunted]

[Photo: housechick]

Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Chicago / Food Travel / → All Tags

Get Dat Donut

Jaunted life lesson number 1: It's really not possible to feel good about yourself after eating more than one donut, which is why you should always try to find the single biggest donut possible.

When in Chicago, the clear winner is the signature behemoth served at Dat Donut. The "Big Dat," as it is fondly called, is four inches across and two inches high, yet cooked to a perfect fluffiness throughout. You can order up a "Dat" in traditional flavors like chocolate or glazed, as well as more adventurous options such as buttermilk and a variety of frosted temptations.

Another attraction at the Chatham-area shop, which is set in the same building as popular restaurant Leon's BBQ, is that hungry fans can watch the donuts being made—and not by a Krispy Kreme automatron but by a real human baker who is probably very popular come closing time.

Aside from Donuts, Dat also serves up your typical junky treats like nachos and ice cream, but after one big one, it's hard to imagine wanting anything else.

Related Stories:
· Dat Donut [Yelp!]
· Are Donuts the New Cupcakes? [Jaunted]
· Designer Doughnuts the Bay Area Way [Jaunted]

[Photo: Yelp]

Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / → All Tags

Donuts So Good They Must Be Cheating

How far would you go for the perfect donut? The question hardly deserves an answer for the hundreds of hungry SoCal residents who regularly brave outer-LaLa-Land traffic to reach the inconvenient-to-no-one shop none as the Donut Man.

Set off Route 66 in the suburb of Glendora, this cash-only stand doesn't look much like much of a foodie mecca, but you'll soon realize why even Elvis used to order his jelly donuts shipped in from here.

The Donut Man is most celebrated for his classic strawberry creation, but don't expect any sickly-sweet neon pink frosting – these dense cakes are topped with a mountain of fresh whole strawberries, which almost seems like cheating. Is a donut that's two-thirds fresh fruit still a donut? It doesn't matter, because no one cares when it's this delicious.

When berries are out of season, the Donut Man offers fresh peach donuts or pumpkin and cream cheese varieties instead, and everything is always available 24/7.

Related Stories:
· The Donut Man [Yelp!]
· Are Donuts the New Cupcakes? [Jaunted]
· Designer Doughnuts the Bay Area Way [Jaunted]

[Photo: robjtak]

Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Food Travel / → All Tags

Designer Doughnuts the Bay Area Way

If San Francisco was gonna get in on the fancy doughnut trend, you knew they had to do it with an organic, local, healthy twist.

OK fine, maybe it's impossible to make doughnuts healthy, but new-ish Bay Area sweets purveyor Dee's Mini Organic Doughnuts does a pretty good job. Their fresh cake doughnuts leave out all the high fructose corn syrup and sodium this-and-that present in your typical store-bought-varieties, and instead use high-end ingredients like organic cacao powder and local Meyer lemons. Plus, they're tiny – how bad for you can they be!

Dee's doesn't have its own store yet, but their hand-dipped chocolate-orange and maple-crunch deliciousness is worth seeking out if you're in the Bay Area – they're now sold at more than a dozen spots, including two of our favorites – Caffe Amici near Union Square and Dish Café at the SF Film Institute.

Related Stories:
· Dee's Mini Organic Doughnuts [Official Site]
· Are Donuts the New Cupcakes? [Jaunted]
· Beverly Hills Cops Probably Hanging Around Frittelli's Doughnuts [Jaunted]

[Photo: Pengrin]

Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Beverly Hills / → All Tags

Beverly Hills Cops Probably Hanging Around Frittelli's Doughnuts

We're trying to expand our quest for a better doughnut outside the NYC area, so obviously, as when looking for all things fancified, we now turn to LA.

One of the dough(NOT DO!)nut shops we've heard the most buzz about is Frittelli's Doughnuts and Coffee, a Beverly Hills bakery with the chutzpah to serve what they call "designer doughnuts." With Swiss chocolate, Tahitian vanilla and fresh fruit filling, they certainly seem to be a step above the Dunk.

They've got high-quality takes on all the classics—strawberry-glazed, sugar-topped, and chocolate sprinkle—as well as more inventive flavors like green apple fritter, latte-glazed, and PB&J-filled. At $2 a pop, they're cheaper than the New York designer doughnuts, although some of the fanciest (think Callebaut Chocolate Glaze Bars Filled w/ Chocolate Bavarian Crème) top out at $3. Still, we think that Beverly Hills cops can probably still afford a dozen doughnuts here.

Any LA readers care to weight in? Is Frittelli's dough worth a trip to the 90210? Let us know in comments below.

Related Stories:
· Frittelli's Doughnuts [Official Site]
· A Doughnut That Will Change the Way You Think About Doughnuts [Jaunted]
· Are Donuts the New Cupcakes? [Jaunted]

[Photo: optionthis]

Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Dessert / Lower East Side / → All Tags

A Doughnut That Will Change the Way You Think About Doughnuts

The tiny Doughnut Plant storefront is hidden on one of the few still-old-school stretches of Manhattan's Lower East Side, set among housing projects, Jewish delis and Chinese groceries, rather than shiny new condos and frolicking hipsters. So you'd be forgiven if you expected this hole-in-the-wall bakery to be the kind of old-school place that only serves simple cake doughnuts, rather than the futuristic wonderland it really is.

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Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives / Donuts / Cupcakes / Brooklyn / Greenpoint / Food Travel / → All Tags

Are Donuts the New Cupcakes?

We think so! Judging by the fervor we've seen around the virtual food world lately, we're ready to say the cupcake craze is over and donut madness has begun. It makes sense really, given the economy, that foodies would abandon the trendy, overpriced, over-fancified cupcake for the original fried dough comfort food.

So over the next few weeks we'll be taking a look at our favorite Dunkin' Donuts Alternatives—from beloved old school pastry shops to designer donut newcomers.

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