Donuts are for Homos!
Or so says some group of douche bags who were driving by the Donut Man in Glendora last night around 10:30PM. I’m more of a donut egalitarian myself, but I’m sure these guys knew what they were talking about. I found myself in Glendora—a highly unlikely locale for a Santa Monican—last night because I saw a peanut butter and jelly donut on The Best Thing I Ever Ate that made me want to cry it looked so good. Being the highly suggestible types, the boyfriend and I went online to peruse our LA options, as the aforementioned PBJ donut sadly resides in New York. I don’t usually go out looking for donuts, especially 45 miles from my home and late at night, but having recently spent three days in Seattle, donuts are kind of on my radar. You see, Seattle is home to Top Pot Donuts. You’ve probably heard of them, either because Starbucks carries a couple of their varieties, or because their 5 Seattle locations are pretty famous, and for good reason. These donuts are worth writing home about, especially the old-fashioned, which are chewy and dense and not cakey like I expected them to be. They are only elevated by the glazes. Whether we’re talking raspberry or chocolate or maple, the glaze is gooey and sweet and full of flavor. The maple glaze is so rich it makes eating an entire maple donut practically impossible, but it’s so worth being sick over.
With that sinful maple glaze still fresh in my mind, I agreed to drive for 50 minutes to Donut Man, because Yelp and Jonathan Gold and everyone else assured me I would find there the best donuts in Los Angeles. I was underwhelmed. The tiger tail that everyone on Yelp is salivating over was good, but nothing extraordinary. The real disappointment was Donut Man’s maple glaze, which I must say was quite tasteless in comparison to TP. It’s not that the donuts were bad, they just weren’t that awesome. And I tried five completely different donuts to be sure my selections weren’t the problem. It probably didn’t help that on my way back here from Seattle I spent a few days in my native San Francisco, home of Dynamo Donuts, the most inventive, fresh, delicious donuts I’ve ever had. From the maple bacon to the vanilla bean to the orange blossom, even Top Pot doesn’t top Dynamo. After the relatively poor showing last night, I’m starting to believe that the best donut in LA is sitting in the pastry case at Starbucks. I’m on the lookout for an LA donut I can be proud of, and suggestions are welcome.
image credit: flickr user m. bibelot.
