KD Donuts, Ramona

Most of us don’t head up into the mountains all that often, but today I had a chance to make a donut run to Ramona before meeting my buddy Sir Isaac for our 14-mile long run. My home isn’t too far from Ramona (relatively speaking), and I needed to cross their donut shop (for the town has just one, sadly, unless I’m mistaken) off my list of places to visit.

KD Donuts off Route 67 (Main Street) has an interesting facade. Note the sign on the front overhang, and note the sign above it. An editor with a keen eye would certainly get a good kick out of seeing this establishment! 

How do you spell it?

 KD’s has a very good selection, with several varieties of raised donuts as well as old-fashioneds, cakes, buttermilk bars, fritters, twists, cinnamon rolls, jelly- and crème-filled donuts, and a few pastries. Sadly, there were zero crullers on hand, which was a true disappointment for Sir Isaac. However, I have been hankering for a maple-glazed buttermilk bar lately, as I haven’t had one of those for quite some time. Happily, KD’s had those on display. The sprinkles on the raised donut were also rather colorful, so I grabbed that one, knowing that Sir Isaac’s daughter Lil’ C would want it.

Big blob of buttermilk bliss!

Sir Isaac and I split up an apple fritter, although I must say that Sir Isaac has a warped idea of what “half” means. Perhaps he used some complicated mathematical formula to determine that his huge portion was, indeed, half of the fritter. Whatever. The fritter wasn’t great anyway, as there were z-e-r-o apple chunks in it, so it must have been made using applesauce instead of real apple chunks. Bah! At least its crunchiness was a redeeming quality. 

Pink and blue sprinkles are delicious.

Sir Isaac was also disappointed with his Boston crème, which he said did not have enough crème in it. Nor was Mrs. Newton all that thrilled with her cake donut, which she called “skimpy on the icing,” or the chocolate old-fashioned, which had an “overwhelming” amount of icing. Lil’ C, however, devoured every bit of her chocolate raised donut (rather than just the top as she usually does), but shook her head vigorously when asked if it was better than Peterson’s. That a-girl!

Overall, this place’s donuts were just average as far as taste goes. Their wide variety is a plus, but when your biggest competitor is the grocery store across the street, I guess there isn’t much incentive to churn out extraordinary morsels. KD’s Donut Meter score is 66.0, which does not put them in the top ten, and barely avoids last place. So if you’re on your way up to the mountains for a hiking or camping trip and want to grab some donuts along the way, I’d recommend stopping somewhere else before you go too far.

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. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.0

5. OB Donuts — 78.7

6. K-Donuts, Oceanside — 78.0

6. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

6. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

9. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

10. Linda’s Donuts, Pacific Beach — 76.0

11. Marte’s Donuts, Escondido — 70.0

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

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

13. KD’s Donuts, Ramona — 66.0

14. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5

Off to the Fair!

 I’ve been attending the San Diego County Fair since I was a teenager, and have always enjoyed the vareity of food that can be found there. Roast chicken kabobs, battered onion rings, caramel corn, barbecued ribs, the list goes on. In recent years, it seems that the food vendors have been trying to outdo one another with the most outrageous fried foods or the biggest and baddest (you name it) that can be dreamed up. This has been going on for some time now, so when I ordered this maple bacon donut today, it had already become rather a ho-hum dish at the fair due to all the food vendors who have let loose their culinary creativity over the past few years.

Bacon...and lots of it!

Can't miss this place.

I have to admit, though, that the donut was pretty darn good. It may have been a bit overpriced at $8.50, but hey, this is the fair! One of the nice things about this donut was that it had been prepared just minutes ago, and was still warm and oozy. Most donuts that you get at a shop have been lingering on a rack for a few hours, but not this bacon-baby. On top of that, the maple flavor was strong, which cannot be said for a lot of maple donuts out there. Warning: If you go to the fair and decide to get one of these things, make sure you bring someone who will share the donut with you, or go for at least a 12-mile run that day. In my case, I did both.

A couple hours later, after wandering around the fairgrounds to check out some of the awesome woodwork and beautiful paintings (including one of Mama Maple’s, I might add, not to boast about her artistic talent or anything . . .), I was ready for lunch. And that turned out to be a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Chicken Charlie’s, which was a bit more reasonably priced at “only” $4.75.

Fried PB&J, warm and gooey.

Three cheers for gooey things!

Would I call this a donut? Well, a donut is defined as a deep-fried piece of dough, and this certainly fit the definition. I was expecting the PB&J to be between two slices of bread and then battered and fried, but instead it turned out to be more like a buttermilk biscuit with gooey PB&J in the center. As you can see from the pictures, this treat had strawberry jelly, which I like much better than grape jelly. It had a nice crunch on the outside, and the warm, goo-licious center was a nice contrast to the biscuit. Once again, sticky thumbs up.

Want to try these for yourself? Then you better hurry, because the fair is open for only three more days—and is sure to be a busy place as everyone fights their way through the traffic and crowds to get their hands on anything and everything that could possibly be thrown into a vat of hot oil.

Have a happy Fourth of July, and remember that it is our great country’s ideal of freedom that allows us to become ever more creative with our words, our paintbrushes, and—last but not least—our culinary imaginations.

Linda's Donuts, Pacific Beach

This weekend’s adventure brought me to Linda’s Donuts in Pacific Beach, with Miss Kitty providing good company. Linda’s is on Grand Avenue, in a small corner strip mall with a handful of parking spaces. The décor is nothing special inside, with a few tables and chairs for customers who wish to linger. On a weekend morning, lingering is one of my favorite activities: no rush to get anywhere, no job to do, no errands to run (at least not until the stores are open).

Linda's in P.B.

 We were informed by the folks at Linda’s that the donut shop has been there for seventy years, which is amazing. Miss Kitty recalls going to Linda’s when she was growing up, hanging out with her friends in this joint. Even though Linda’s walls and floors appear rather dated, their donuts, fortunately, are fresh.

No skimping on these toppings!

Our first donut was a cinnamon crumb twist, which was flaky and fluffy, with a generous amount of crumb topping on all sides. Miss Kitty said it had loads of flavor, and called it very yummy. The first donut is always yummy, as we all know! Although Linda’s didn’t offer my favorite, the maple old-fashioned, we tried the chocolate old-fashioned, which had a crisp, crunchy outside and a good coat of chocolate icing. The balance of donut and icing was ideal, which is something some places do not achieve because they skimp on the icing.

Miss Kitty also picked out a Boston crème (which Linda’s calls a “Bavarian cream,” but the finished donut is properly called a “Boston crème”), and twisted my arm to accept half. I’m not usually a fan of filled donuts, but this one was spot-on because it didn’t go overboard with the cream filling (which is properly called “Bavarian cream”—and I tell you this so you don’t get confused); my mouth was not overwhelmed by the gooey custard. 

Boston crème or Bavarian cream?

I was most pleased with the airy maple cruller, which is something I have been craving for a while now. Most places offer just plain or chocolate crullers, but Linda’s had plain crullers as well as crullers with chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or maple icing. That gave Linda’s a few extra points in my rating of their variety. Plenty of cake donuts were on hand as well, although the one we shared—vanilla icing with peanuts on top—was nothing special.

Linda’s Donuts received the exact same scores from Miss Kitty and myself: above average for taste and variety, but just average for innovation and customer experience. The Donut Meter score was 76.0, which is just so-so even though the donuts were more than decent. The place could use a good scrub and perhaps a remodeled interior, but judging by their steady stream of business, the grubby look hasn’t kept the customers away. After all, who comes into a donut shop to admire the art on the walls?

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. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.0

5. OB Donuts — 78.7

6. K-Donuts, Oceanside — 78.0

6. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

6. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

9. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

10. Linda’s Donuts, Pacific Beach — 76.0

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

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

13. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5

Going Gourmet

A reader in Chicago—let’s call him Willy—sent me a clipping from the July 7 edition of the Chicago Tribune, an article entitled “Hole Foods.” (Thanks, Willy!) It features some of the Windy City’s trendy new donut shops, which offer exotic flavors such as lemon-pistachio, coffee cream, PB&J, and crème brûlée. Their prices may be a bit higher than what you’d find in most donut shops, but they nevertheless sell out their small stocks in a matter of hours. When I was growing up in Chicago, all we had were Dunkin Donuts, so it is nice to see some donut shops break the mold and offer more creative flavors. To read the full article, go to:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/ct-dining-0607-doughnuts-20120607,0,585207.column

Crème brûlée, from Glazed
and Infused in Chicago.

This got me wondering when we will see such a “gourmet” donut shop in San Diego. We have plenty of gourmet cupcake shops, but no gourmet donut shops—at least not yet. Some of our donut shops offer imaginative flavors and designs, but PB&J and pistachio donuts? Correct me if I’m mistaken, but gourmet donuts are not to be found in this city. I do, however, believe that sooner or later some clever entrepreneur will realize that donuts are more fun than cupcakes. (Oops, there I go again, bad-mouthing cupcakes, which I actually do like—as long as they are sold at reasonable prices.)

Maple long john with bacon, also from
Glazed and Infused. Sorry, but you'll have to
travel 2,000 miles for one of these.

Now, you might ask me why I don’t just open up my own donut shop and offer these wild and crazy donuts. Well, I’m pretty happy with my day job, and besides, I like eating donuts more than I like making them. Making donuts is hard work, and a donut maker’s day often starts at 1:00 a.m., so that the donuts can be ready for customers when the sun comes up. That doesn’t mean I won’t try out some crazy recipes in my own kitchen, but I’ll stick to small batches that I can share with my friends and family.