California Donuts. Where to begin?

I thought New England had a lot of Donut shops but the Donutage in and around L.A. is out of control. I’ve really never seen anything like it. And I don’t mean Dunkin’, KK or Winchell’s – L.A.’s sprawl is filled with enticingly named indie shops like Perfect Donuts, Best Donuts, Sexy Donut (totally unappetizing) and my personal favorite for its simplicity, Jelly Donut. The other Times claims that L.A. County is home to nearly 900 Donut shops!, many of which are owned by Cambodians. According to some professor’s ethno-economic theory, Cambodian immigrants took over the SoCal Donut scene in the late 70s thanks to an ambitious shop owner in La Habra who convinced his buddies to make Donuts too. The ironic twist? According to the prof’s massive cultural generalization, Cambodians don’t even like Donuts.

Sadly, I didn’t have time to taste any sexy rings. Instead I completely sold out and hit all the famous spots known for things like celebrity clientele, giant roof-top Donut representations and froofy, high-end ingredients, while hoping for random mom-and-pop encounters along the way. So after a grueling day of travel Mrs. B and I finally touched down at Bob Hope International and hit the ground running. Without enough cash for a hybrid we guiltily went in true, gas-guzzling L.A.-style and rented a Jeep Liberty SUV. We slipped in our L.A. mix – lots of cacophonous Tom Waits, Beck, X, Frank Black, etc – and headed straight to the Farmer’s Market (more like a gourmet food court) for a taste of Bob’s Coffee and Doughnuts.

But before finding Bob’s I got distracted:

The place was called The Gumbo Pot and in addition to Beignets (French Donuts) and New Orleans-style chicory flavored coffee served things like fried alligator. I got a café au lait, which was smooth and authentically spiced, and an order of beignets. The guy behind me got the same only he pronounced beignet like “big-nut.” They were super-hot and fresh and two out of three were inflated correctly with a massive pocket of air inside. As usual when I eat beignets most of the powdery sugar ended up in my lungs as I inhaled but what stuck to the Donut was sweet and gooey and went well with the chewy dough. I looked over at “big-nut’s” table and dude was covered in powdered sugar.

After beignets we hit Bob’s, who many have called the best Donut dealer in L.A.. And even though we showed up at closing time my plain glazed was still nice and soft and had plenty of sweet and bright yeasty flavor. I can totally see how when fresh from the fryer, a still-smoldering Bob’s could be an award-worthy Donut.

Mrs. B had her sites on the Chocolate Caramel Nut. She attempted a new photographic technique ushering in a more sophisticated era in Blognut photography – the Donut Side View:

This could definitely take Blognut to the next level.

The CCN - which doubles as a “delicious party dessert” - was really soft and moist but also light, and I dug the clean, almost white color of the dough. It made it seem healthier in light of the seven-day Donut binge that lay ahead. Size-wise it was a little on the puny side, but the flavors were there – the rich and sweet chocolate-caramel frosting was offset nicely by the savory and textural peanut crunch and the oily finish was minimal. Mrs. B agreed this was a super way to start our California Donut Tour but was disappointed that Bob’s was out of their dinosaur and cat-shaped varieties. She’s often drawn to foods intended for infants and is perfectly comfortable eating off most children’s menus - things like mac & cheese and PB&Js you know.

 

The Gumbo Pot
Los Angeles Farmer’s Market
6333 W Third St. Ste 312
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Bob’s Coffee & Doughnuts
6333 W 3rd St. Ste 450
Los Angeles Farmer’s Market
Los Angeles, CA 90210

Stay tuned for Part 2 when we eat Beverly Hills Donuts.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Eat Donuts Here, Travelogue. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.