Happy Donuts - San Francisco, CA

As if hanging out with 7 week old Joseph Aloysius Gottbrath IV wasn't all the invitation I needed, Joseph Aloysius Gottbrath III offered to bring along some afternoon offerings from Happy Donuts and meet in the Panhandle. The wee man clearly wasn't interested in the maple raised stuff so early in his game, but you gotta plant the seed..

Maple raised, chocolate old fashioned, plain glazed old fashioned, chocolate buttermilk. All just pretty alright like only Happy Donuts can do. Nothing epic, just solid offerings from the Bay Area stalwart. Look at the style of that old-fashioned!

 Dear readers: Don't forget about Old Hat's estate sale going on this weekend on Portola.  And pick up a doughnut on the way.

Silver Crest Donut Shop - San Francisco, CA

Nothing better than a chocolate-coconut raised to kick off a session at the Alemany Flea Market with Bloughnut collaborator and Just Fine conspirator Matt W.  Open 24 hours for breakfast-lunch-dinner and snacks in between, the Silver Crest fries up their own doughnuts daily! Ding dong!

This specimen was springy and coconuty.  It was so delectable I was compelled to eat it with a fork.

Every time I go in there, this place feels a little closer to shutting their doors for good.  But I hear that has been the case for a while now.  Give it a try, if not only for the doughnuts for the chicken fried steak and the Greek music.

Bloughnut collaborator Kevin B. tells the story of Chester D., original Louisiana bluesman, who used to ride his horse to the Silver Crest in the 1940s.  Kevin B. met him much later.  Chester D. was a welder in the Hunters Point Naval Shipyards who lost part of his hand in a shotgun accident.  He learned to play guitar lefty--the best place to catch him was at the 24th Street BART station.  Come back and visit for a little music featuring Chester D. and Brian "The Fisherman."

Dunkin' Donuts - Penn Hills PA

Not happy about a 5am trip to the airport to bid adieu to my dear brother, but it was made bearable by the drive-thru at the local DD. Bland, sugary de-frosted maple- and chocolate-raised doughnuts courtesy of the Massachusetts-based behemoth. Mmmmm---delish.

Walton Donuts - Denver CO

We find ourselves in Denver on a business trip and treated our clients to a round of doughnuts from Walton. We got them to go and the nice lady unfortunately messed up our order: 2 glazed old-fashioneds instead of one glazed and a chocolate. Oh well. We also received a chocolate twist, maple raised, and a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (Rule #5 of Sales: Know Your Client).



They were all good. Does the high altitude help or hinder the yeast rising? The old-fashioneds were formed beautifully, something I can appreciate after creating so many out of wax these days. The maple raised wasn't epic but my dear readers know that anything maple has a lot to live up to. The chocolate twist became an afternoon snack after a hike in Boulder. Nice and fluffy.

On Monday, back to the Bay Area and familiar ground.