The 2nd Annual New York Donut Hike
8:00 AM
It’s time, and I’m waiting by the door. The usual suspects are gathering, the same as last year. My parents (donut enthusiasts, both of them) and my brother (a donut purist, some might say). And me, the mastermind, the donut fiend. The purpose? Not to find the best New York donut. No, that’s impossible. But rather, to become a more rounded New York donut expert. We have a carefully planned itinerary with a surprise stop. The weather is beautiful, and we’re hungry.
It’s time for the 2nd Annual Donut Hike.
8: 13 AM
We still haven’t left the house.
9: 36 AM
We’ve finally parked the car here in Manhattan. We’re behind schedule because of a disagreement in the ranks about where exactly to park the car, which has lead to circling the Upper East Side for hours. The troops are getting hangry.
(That’s a real word now, by the way, as it should be.)
We get on the subway and head down to our first stop on 14th Street.
10:17 AM First stop – the Donut Pub
This place is your classic Formica countertop, swively barstool coffee shop. It’s been around for 50 years, which is pretty much heritage status here in New York. We want to start light (boy did we learn from last year), so we order only two donuts, a glazed old fashioned and a Boston Cream done up in frosting a la New York black and white cookie style. We are ravenous, but we wait until we get some decent coffee at the hipster coffee shop in Chelsea Market before delving in.
Verdicts? The glazed old fashioned is solid, moist without being soggy, crumbling without being dry. I probably won’t go my way for this donut, but it’s definitely the kind of donut that’s dangerous to have in your neighborhood, it’s siren call tempting for your sugar cravings and stress-eating tendencies. We are split fifty-fifty on the black and white Boston Cream. I really liked it, but the deciding factor was whether or not you got some of the pastry cream in your bite. This is why sharing one donut between four people is hard.
We’re still hungry.
10:40 AM Second stop – the Doughnuttery
This is a cute little donut operation hidden away in Chelsea Market. It’s at the back of a maze of eateries, but you’ll be able to find it by the sweet fried aroma tempting you past Australian hand pies and Japanese tacos. The Doughnuttery makes fresh mini donuts that are coated with fancy flavored sugars (or standard sugar) like lavender/pistachio/vanilla and Fruity Pebblers.
We taste-test the standard sugar covered and the pumpkin spice (all things pumpkin! Yes!). I was disappointed that the pumpkin spice didn’t taste sufficiently “fall” for me, though we did enjoy how warm and crispy the fresh donuts were (Dad the connoisseur notes that the ratio of fried outside to doughy inside is more equal in a mini donut than in a regular-sized donut). The Doughnuttery is a frequent sight in the food stalls that spring up around the city during the summer and holiday time, and the delectable smells are pointless to resist.
11:25 AM Third Stop – the Cinnamon Snail
This is all my dreams come true. The first year I worked in Midtown, there was a magical food truck that I longed for. It glimmered with donut promises: vanilla bourbon crème brulee, Thai basil coconut, Mexican hot chocolate twists, pistachio cardamom – you see how this is my heaven?? And it’s all vegan! I had heard such rave reviews about the Cinnamon Snail but was never able to get there during my lunch hours (when all the delicious donuts were sure to already be devoured anyway).
And then, the temperamental goddess of New York City health laws struck.
Being a food truck in New York is tricky, and even with their popularity, the Cinnamon Snail found it impossible to carry on catering the masses of New York. They canceled their service abruptly. My heart was broken.
So it was serendipitous when I found out that they would be back in New York for ONE DAY ONLY the same exact day as the Donut Hike! In the neighborhood we were going to be! So I assuage my parents’ concerns about the veganism (we had a so-so experience last Donut Hike) and drag them off to salivate over the plethora of tantalizing donuts.
We end up with a chocolate cookie crusted yeast donut, a maple pecan, and the famed vanilla bourbon crème brulee. Mom is so impressed that she said repeatedly that they were “really good, especially for vegan donuts.” How you make crème brulee vegan, I have no idea, but I’ll welcome it eagerly from the Cinnamon Snail. Maybe it’s a good thing they’re no longer in my work neighborhood. I think they’d probably have all my money.
11:48 AM
We take a hike from Chelsea up to the far west of Midtown, trying to work off at least half a donut’s worth of calories. My brother keeps track of our caloric burn on his iWatch. It’s pitifully small.
We walk up the High Line, one of my favorite parks in New York. It’s an old elevated train track that’s been repurposed. It’s always crazy packed, but it’s still a nice oasis in the city. The developers decorate it with a lot of art too, including a temporary exhibit of 2 tons of white Legos that guests are invited to build with.
The High Line also features one of my favorite murals in New York, a colorfully reimaging of one of the world’s most famous kisses.
12:27 PM Fourth stop – Underwest Donuts
This is one of the newest donut hot spots in New York and one that’s been on my to-try list for a couple of months (egads, I have a donut to-try list! Something is seriously wrong/right in my life). It’s just so far out of the way on 12th Avenue that I’m never near it.
It’s a donut shop in a car wash. Because, you know, it’s really useful to multi task those two things. My brother is enthusiastic about the dark chocolate cake donut, the first of its kind on the hike. Mom wants the freshly made espresso bean dusted yeast, and I give double votes for the vanilla lavender and maple waffle donuts. Dad, as always, is happy with anything. The donut makers are friendly and chatty, interested/amused/nervous about our donut hike and the ensuing health complications.
We take our donuts outside to eat on the pier under the Intrepid. (How New York! I think gleefully to myself.) We set up a makeshift table on a bench and dig into our final treats, which are insanely delicious. The maple waffle wins my heart for best donut of the day, though the vanilla lavender is a scrumptious twist on the classic glazed.
At this point, my brother is raving about the dark chocolate donut. “Best donut of the day!” he swears, which is high praise from the man who has mostly shrugged his shoulders as approval all day long. My parents and I are eager to try our meager pieces… just as a particularly strong gust of wind whips around us on the pier….
Knocking the prize donut off the makeshift table and tumbling it to the ground. Disappointment crushes us. Some pigeons are really stupidly lucky that day.
I’m not going to say I cried (I’m not going to say I didn’t either), but there is definitely a palpable damper on the whole donut situation after that fiasco. We are bemoaning the demise of the donut, my brother rubbing in how good it was, when Mom makes a sensible suggestion.
“We could just… go back and get a second.”
So we do. Well worth it.
1:04 PM
There’s one more stop on the donut hike, but we haven’t the time – or the stomach. I’m pretty sure my blood sugar is spiking to unreasonable levels. We head home, analyzing the samples from today and mulling over our favorites. It’s amazing how much time today we’ve spent talking about donuts – we take these things seriously.
The only thing I eat for the next fifteen hours is a piece of cheddar cheese. I’m praying my body chemicals aren’t too out of whack. Maybe more cheese will help.
SUNDAY
Oh, one more donut place, you say? Surely we can fit it in another day….
8:56 AM Fifth Stop — Orwasher’s Bakery
I still feel the sugar pulsing through my veins, but when have I ever let that stop me? (Never.) We roll into Orwasher’s, a classic New York establishment on the East Side. Orwasher’s is an all-around staples bakery, and their standard donut offerings are customizable – their trick is to fill donuts to-order with mouth-watering homemade jams. We order two sugar-crusted, one peach and one red raspberry, and a chocolate frosted with strawberry filling.
The red raspberry is stellar, as expected, but the dark horse for me is the chocolate frosted strawberry. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate covered strawberries, but I would have happily eaten an entire donut that way.
“No more donuts,” I whisper, but I hope no one hears. That’s a commitment I just can’t keep.
It’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite from this year’s Donut Hike. The bakeries were all so different and all so delicious. But as an overall winner I’d have to say Underwest is my new favorite cake donut in New York. That maple waffle was something special. And if you’re ever stranded on the East Side for some tragic reason, console yourself with an Orwasher’s donut. It has jam in it, which is a fruit, so basically it’s a health food.
At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
I snapped the whole Donut Hike on Snapchat at “wayfarersbook.” The video coming soon (once I can figure out how to get it off my phone — it’s surprisingly difficult!) but make sure you don’t miss any of the adventures. Follow me for more food and travel fun!
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