"I don't really do doughnuts," I said to Ms. Julie. "You can test them for me, ok?" So said I to my wife as I headed down to the Lower East Side to do a story on the Donut Plant, 379 Grand Street (between Essex & Norfolk Streets) for the Daily News.
Each day the store produces 2000 doughnuts made of all organic ingredients, no trans-fats and no preservatives. Owner Mark Isreal sells them at the store and also wholesale to Dean and Deluca, Balducci's, Whole Foods and other joints. When they run out, the store closes.
We got to the store and a coconut creme was plopped in front of me.
"A bite won't kill me," I thought, and chomped.
BAM!
Oh, man...I have to sit. It was that good.
It wasn't the usual coconut-shavings----this had come that morning from a coconut Mark himself had opened with a hammer. It didn't clobber you with sweetness, but, rather, the flavor itself enveloped my being. I ate the whole thing. It was huge but I barely felt it--it was so light and free of grease. Really, a delight.
"Want some hot chocolate?" Mark smiled.
"I don't do hot chocolate," I said, thinking of the water-sugar-chocolate packages from Swiss Miss you usually get at gas stations.
"Come on, gotta try it!" he said. I relented.
He dipped a ladel into a vat and poured me this sublime brown hot melted chocolate---real chocolate, made that morning from big hunks in a bag delivered from Germany the week before.
Again...a mouth explosion.
Suddenly I was happy. Dizzy. Elated. Never tasted anything like it.
While we were there, four women, tourists from Athens, GA, came into the store. Two moms and two daughters. The daughters were each 20, each thin and bright eyed. Each young lady, while she was there, ate four doughnuts apiece.
In short, Doughnut Plant has now become a "must visit" for NYC for me, and I'm tellin' everyone.
I had planned to say 15 minutes; we hung around two hours for the chocolate doughnuts, the orange glazed, the cinnamon, the sticky bun, the pistachio, and so on. We even got to go in the back and watch them bake.
The doughnuts aren't like Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Entemann's or anything like anything you've ever had.
I'll publish the link to the story---it's running either this Wed. or the following---but trust JMNYC---rush right down next time you're in town. But prepare to be instantly addicted.
View attachment 01%20Doughnut%20Plant.jpg
Each day the store produces 2000 doughnuts made of all organic ingredients, no trans-fats and no preservatives. Owner Mark Isreal sells them at the store and also wholesale to Dean and Deluca, Balducci's, Whole Foods and other joints. When they run out, the store closes.
We got to the store and a coconut creme was plopped in front of me.
"A bite won't kill me," I thought, and chomped.
BAM!
Oh, man...I have to sit. It was that good.
It wasn't the usual coconut-shavings----this had come that morning from a coconut Mark himself had opened with a hammer. It didn't clobber you with sweetness, but, rather, the flavor itself enveloped my being. I ate the whole thing. It was huge but I barely felt it--it was so light and free of grease. Really, a delight.
"Want some hot chocolate?" Mark smiled.
"I don't do hot chocolate," I said, thinking of the water-sugar-chocolate packages from Swiss Miss you usually get at gas stations.
"Come on, gotta try it!" he said. I relented.
He dipped a ladel into a vat and poured me this sublime brown hot melted chocolate---real chocolate, made that morning from big hunks in a bag delivered from Germany the week before.
Again...a mouth explosion.
Suddenly I was happy. Dizzy. Elated. Never tasted anything like it.
While we were there, four women, tourists from Athens, GA, came into the store. Two moms and two daughters. The daughters were each 20, each thin and bright eyed. Each young lady, while she was there, ate four doughnuts apiece.
In short, Doughnut Plant has now become a "must visit" for NYC for me, and I'm tellin' everyone.
I had planned to say 15 minutes; we hung around two hours for the chocolate doughnuts, the orange glazed, the cinnamon, the sticky bun, the pistachio, and so on. We even got to go in the back and watch them bake.
The doughnuts aren't like Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Entemann's or anything like anything you've ever had.
I'll publish the link to the story---it's running either this Wed. or the following---but trust JMNYC---rush right down next time you're in town. But prepare to be instantly addicted.
View attachment 01%20Doughnut%20Plant.jpg
