Make mine a D

I came across this article on the Web today.

Reinventing the Doughnut

Okay, someone has opened a “hip” donut shop in—where else?—Los Angeles. The Beverly Hills shop offers gluten-free, vegan, and other so-called healthy donuts. You can check out their offerings at their Web site:

Fonuts

Fonuts are baked or steamed, never fried, and the store’s Web site freely admits that the origin of the name comes from “faux donut.” Their flavors sound yummy, and include banana chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, maple bacon, and red velvet, all seen here. Fonuts also has the standard sprinkled and glazed varieties in its lineup. 

Banana chocolate

Peanut butter and jelly

Maple bacon

Red velvet

Fonuts is seeking a niche in the overpopulated donut market in Los Angeles—by one count, there are over 1,600 donut shops in the area, and Fonuts could very well find that niche they seek, given the population of the city and the appeal of healthier food options.

However, on the purest level of donutology, there is something seriously wrong with these Fonuts. While I can understand and even endorse eating healthy on a consistent basis, donuts are a special treat that are meant to be enjoyed without regard to their fat and calorie content. To be focused on eating healthy 100 percent of the time allows no wiggle room for many culinary pleasures, whether that be a juicy hamburger, a drippin’ plate of BBQ, a gooey pizza, a slice of your mother’s homemade pie, or a donut. I’m not going to say that Fonuts taste horrible because I’ve never tried them, but I’m going to say that eating a Fonut most likely would not be as pleasurable as eating a real donut because there is no “Hee-hee, I’m eating a donut!” factor involved. Donuts are meant to be consumed with a smile, not with a frown that says, “I wish I didn’t have to eat healthy day in and day out.”

Eating healthy is good—I endorse it 95 percent of the time—but eating what you want is also essential to living life to its fullest. So go ahead and enjoy that donut, and if anyone gives you a not-so-subtle tsk-tsk about it, just offer a smile in return, and wipe that powdered sugar off your nose.

Pam's Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula

Road trip! Road trip! Road trip!

Well, a drive up to Temecula can’t really be called a road trip, but today’s trek to Temecula was the Donut Man’s first visit to a donut shop outside of San Diego County. I met my good friend Big B, himself a great donutologist, who came from the opposite direction to meet me halfway for a nice breakfast this Saturday morning at Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, which is located just off I-15 at the Winchester Avenue exit. We got there around 9:45 a.m., and it was rather quiet inside. Big B had just run a road race and I came straight from the gym, so both of us had a good appetite.

The selections weren’t anything special, as I didn’t see any varieties that could be considered creative or unique. No crullers, no bear claws, no Boston crèmes—so Pam’s got low marks on variety and innovation from both of us. Big B gave them an above average rating for taste, but I considered the donuts just average. Big B liked the raised donuts best, although he mentioned that the chocolate icing was rather bland and the maple not sweet enough. I agreed with him on that, although for me the best was the coconut cake donut, which had a better, fresher taste to it than the raised donuts, which hit me as somewhat stale. The crumb cake was also decent, but the old-fashioned with chocolate icing was just “Eh.”

The staff, however, was very nice, and the tables inside made for a nice atmosphere, as we were able to relax and chat about what we’ve been up to. Even with bland donuts like these, hanging out with a friend made the drive to Temecula well worth the trip!

And what about that Chinese food? Inside Pam’s, there are two displays, one for donuts and the other for Chinese food. I hoped to grab an egg roll on my way out to take home for later, but the folks at Pam’s said that since business was usually slow on Saturdays, they didn’t serve any Chinese food that day. 

Big B gave Pam’s higher scores than I did, as I was rather disappointed with the selections that were available and rated them below average in that regard, and just average on taste. They did, however, score well on customer experience, but that’s only worth 10 percent of the Donut Meter score, while taste is worth 60 percent, variety 20 percent, and innovation 10 percent. Thus, Pam’s earned a Donut Meter score of 66.0, which ranks as one of the lower scores on the list. Hey, at least this place isn’t in San Diego County.

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1.              Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2.              Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3.              Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4.              OB Donuts — 78.7

5.              Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

6.              Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

7.              Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

8.              Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula — 66.0

9.              Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5

Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro

First of all, I need to thank Mr. Hawk, who so kindly allowed me to kick his duff on the golf course yesterday, which resulted in a few extra dollars in my wallet. Those few dollars went right into my donut fund and covered the purchase at Heavenly Donuts on Waring Road in Del Cerro. Now, Del Cerro is not normally a neighborhood I would visit, but I wanted to expand my range this weekend. I simply selected Heavenly Donuts from a list of shops in the area—no recommendation, no positive reviews—I just saw “Del Cerro” on the list and decided I’d check it out.

There’s nothing too special about the place: it’s located at the end of a strip mall on Waring Road, and there are just a couple of small tables inside. I’d call it a stop-and-go type of place, which is just fine for most donut shops. And stopping and going was what I did this morning. The selections are about average, with all the standard varieties available, including crullers (bonus points!). But if you’re looking for more than just basic donuts, Heavenly isn’t all that great. They do offer some interesting varieties, including this chocolate “ghost” who appears quite happy with the fact that he is about to be eaten by the Donut Man:

If you know your donuts, you’ll recognize this as a rip-off of the VooDoo donut from Oregon, and Heavenly also offered a similar donut with raspberry filling, which is a complete rip-off of VooDoo’s signature donut. (By the way, a co-worker recently went to VooDoo and brought me a bumper sticker—so I need to say thanks!) Nevertheless, the ghost donut was excellent, and I saved the head for my last bite.

The cruller, however, was a bit soggy and undercooked, lacking the crisp exterior that can be found on a well-done cruller. But at least Heavenly offers them on the menu, which is better than some places can claim. After getting a nibble from the Beaneater’s buttermilk bar last week, I decided to round off my order with a buttermilk bar with maple icing, which proved to be a wise choice. I grew up on Peterson’s maple buttermilk bars, and although Heavenly makes a darn good buttermilk bar, it is nowhere near as good as Peterson’s.

Yeah, I am biased toward Peterson’s Donut Corner, and am proud to admit it. Peterson’s is the measuring stick by which all other donuts are judged, and as a result, Heavenly scored 78.0 on the Donut Meter. Taste was slightly above average, but variety, innovation, and customer experience just average. Still, I am glad that I visited Heavenly Donuts today, as it gave me a chance to expand my geographical range. On top of that, the Donut Man has his first road trip outside of San Diego County scheduled for next weekend. Stay tuned . . .

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. OB Donuts — 78.7

5. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

6. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

7. Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

8. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5