Donuts and Perogies

Ok guys, I know it has been forever. My bad. I have been busy watching Jersey Shore. That is not a joke.

So I was thinking that since I now live in Manhattan, I should start writing about all the great stuff my friends (and by "friends" I mean Brandon) and I discover when we're exploring the city. I feel like a lot of people who read this blog will at some point visit NYC, and we really have found some off-the-beaten-path gems. But these gems aren't really that off-the-beaten-path, because the entire island is like 6 miles long and 2 miles wide, so pretty much, it is easy to get anywhere; basically, these are the types of places that make New York City a crazy fun place to visit, but they aren't tourist-traps.

Anyway, I'm not going to rank stuff because that is impossible, but I promise I will only write about things that are truly visit-worthy. And by things I mainly mean food establishments--why deny my true interests? As my cousin-in-law so aptly said, "I like that you have no shame."

So in the spirit of "no shame" I would like to first talk about a donut. Not just any donut. Literally, the best donut in America. The Doughnut Plant (http://www.doughnutplant.com/) is a tiny little shop in the lower east side, on Grand Street just east of Chinatown, almost to the river, housed across the street from some housing projects. The donut that changed my life is called the "Creme Brulee." It is about 1/4 of the size of a normal donut, and costs $3. But it is not hype. I would pay $6. It is that good. It is a round cream-filled donut. The creme is a decadent carmel-custard. And they carmelize the top of the donut, so it really does look and taste like creme brulee. I actually like the donut better than I like real creme brulee. Apparently the guy who owns it is a perfectionist and it took him years to develop the perfect caramel-cream filling. It worked. The caramel-custard makes all other donut fillings seem like cheap cool-whip imitations. Like the grossest kind of cool-whip. Fat free cool-whip. Generic brand. Sick. I may never eat a cream-filled donut from any other donut place again. The story is pretty cool-- the owner started baking donuts as a side-job, making deliveries on his bike. His grandpa had owned a donut shop, so he had some great recipes, which he then expanded. Eventually, his donuts became so popular, he opened his own store. Now, he only makes about 10 kinds of donuts, but does each one incredibly well. His perfectionism feeds (ha ha pardon the pun) into his whole shop-- he started by only selling yeast donuts, and he worked on his cake-donut recipe for 5 years before he felt like it was good enough to sell. Anyway, the shop is tiny and the winding line always stretches out the door, and the bakery part of the shop adjoins to where they sell the donuts, and as you wait in line you can watch the owner and his workers baking away, and you see and smell rows and rows of donuts and it makes it difficult to only order 1 (or in my case 2) donuts at a time. The shop only cooks a certain amount of donuts each day, and closes when the last donut is sold. They always sell-out. I am in love. I am sorry if you visited us before we discovered this place. It is worth coming back. The Doughnut Plant has gotten play on Regis and Kelly, Ugly Betty, Good Morning America, Martha Stewart, etc, which makes it a little less charming of a discovery, but oh well, I guess everyone should know about this place.

I did not take this picture--to be honest, there is little chance I would have the willpower to step away from the donut halfway through to snap a photo.

Unrelated: I teach the 8/9 year old primary class at church, and I had the kids draw their depiction of the Garden of Eden on the chalkboard, and this adorable little 8-year-old included a "donut plant" (I don't think she knows about the actual Doughnut Plant, I think she just really likes donuts) in her drawing and it made me want to take her home with me.

We stumbled upon another great eatery, close-ish to the Donut Plant, called Veselka (http://www.veselka.com/). It's a Ukranian restaurant that's been in the East Village for over 50 years-- at 2nd Avenue and 9th-- and is pretty much the last holdout in what used to be a heavily eastern european area. I haven't had much exposure to eastern european food, so I was slightly skepical, but everything we tried was delicious. We have since been back and had very tasty meals the second time around, too. They specialize in perogies and blintzes, but also have great American-ish food too, including a very enticing brunch menu. So far everything we've ordered is awesome. Their perogies are legit. As are their eastern-european waitresses. When the 60-year-old waitress taking my order asked me if I wanted my perogies boiled or fried, and I said boiled, she very politely told me they are much better fried. When I politely responded that I had my heart set on boiled, she was pretty disgusted. We tried them both ways, and I actually liked them better boiled, but I think I am in the minority. Anyway, about a week after we found Veselka, the New York Times did a story on it.

For the record, we have a very cozy apt (read: small, but just big enough for visitors), so when this blog convinces you that you can't wait another moment to experience the awesomeness that is NYC, our Upper West Side abode is always open.

Next up, a french fry tour of the city...