delicious delicious donuts

As you may already know, our beloved Donut Man made good on his threat to quit the donut game. June 30th was indeed the last day of Donut Queen donuts, and we said good bye with a warm handshake, well-wishes, and promises of visting the new pizza venture. The last day's donuts were fine--although I can admit now that there had been a noticeable quality issues over the last six months, and we were ready to move on to better donuts.

The next day, July 1st, Jeff and I went by the Donut Queen to say goodbye once more. It was their last day of business, and they were trying to use up the remainder of thier inventory, like sprinkles. There were many sprinkle donuts. Donut Man was happy to see us, especially Jeff, with whom he loves to talk sports and politics. Donut Man then offered us some fresh donuts, still warm, Krispy Kreme style. Let me tell you. This warm raised glazed donut was sublime, and like a great wine or cheese, it actually had notes: a yeasty, brioche tone followed by the county-fair fritter nuttiness, ending with a hint of lemon blossom and cotton candy as you licked the glaze off your fingers. It's a shame that he gave up, but he did manage to serve up one of the best fried foods I have ever put to my lips, a parting gift I will treasure forever.

But Donut Man or no, Half & Half needs donuts. We discovered Delicious Donuts, a new donut bakery located at the very sketchy corner of Grand and Burnside, right next to the Plaid Pantry. The Delicious Donut gang is also Vietnamese, very friendly and slightly more business oriented than The Donut Queen. And their donuts are special. They are super-fresh and considerably more substantial than the Queen's. The maple frosting is really different, and I honestly can't tell which one I like better (oh, maybe that's because I generally hate maple frosting) but I am so intrigued with the maple-frosted-cream-filled, and it keeps selling before I can justify trying one. Right now my favorite is the crumb. It's the little-black dress of donuts. And the crumbs are actual crumbs! When we get to know each other a little better I'd like to see if they might make my all time favorite, the chocolate-creme filled. But they can't just fill it with a cheap chocolate filling. What it really has to be is a good chocolate pudding folded into whipped cream, then piped into the donut, then coated with powdered sugar... ok, maybe for my birthday.