Leavitt's Bakery - Conway NH

Found this place while desperately searching for vegetables to cook over a campfire. Right next to the quaint New Hampshire farm stand (which was awesome) was this terrific bakery.

One of the older folks walking up saw me pointing my camera at a donut and yelled "What are you doing? That's for eating, not taking pictures! Put it in your mouth!" And stood there waiting for me to  take a bite in a charming New England manner.

Apparently a "Lemon Bismark" is lemon filling and white cream sandwiched on a split donut. It was 99 cents and delicious. We also got an Apple Fritter that was equally as good. 

Donuts in New England are a pretty serious thing but also totally unpretentious and no frills. Atkins Farm in Amherst remains to this day probably my favorite donut of all time. Driving through Western Mass and New Hampshire there definitely seems to be a Dunkin every mile, but also a mind-blowing local doughnut shop full of old timers drinking coffee every 5. 

Read more about Leavitt's from the Conway Daily Sun

Leavitt's Bakery 

(& Whitakers Farm Stand)

564 White Mountain HWY

Conway, NH

Noon Mark Diner - Keene Valley NY

On the drive home from camping in the Adirondacks, rolled up to this amazing diner in the small mountain town of Keene Valley (maybe 10 miles west of Lake Placid). Huge place, used to be a farmhouse, packed with people. It's also a bus stop.

The vibe and menu is small town but with homemade everything, maybe a touch of healthiness with the 7 grain bread and overall much more than you would expect from a diner. Really fast and friendly service especially considering our group consisted of least a dozen bearded dudes recovering from a week of whiskey, cliff diving and grilled meat.



All the bread, donuts, pies and pastries are made there - super simple, choice of donut is sugar or plain. Delicious. Breakfast was awesome. Big slab of ham steak, great corned beef hash, fresh eggs, endless refills of coffee. Dinnertime they have BBQ night on the patio in the back and even fresh Trout pulled right out of the river.

Also "Michigan Hot Dogs" are on the menu which I didn't try since I had plenty of them over the course of the trip. I was surprised to see Michigans this far south of Plattsburgh (where they originated) but hot dogs are everywhere up here.



Great example of everything a diner can be. Classic and comfortable and modern at the same time without any gimmicks but just great real fresh food. Please for the love of pete can we get one of these on Broad Street?

Noon Mark Diner
1770 Nys Route 73
Keene Valley, NY

Bakery

At 3rd & Wolf, right down the street from Michael's Deli - home of the double philly surf & turf hot dog hoagie - is a small corner bakery with no name. Inside are your standard South Philly Italian bakery cookies but also trays and trays of homemade donuts in sizes and shapes I have never seen before. Smallish, square cream filled things that look like a cross between eclairs and donuts. Then these super thin ring donuts, pretzel shaped black & white cookie-ish donuts as well as more standard donuts.



Convinced I had discovered some wild South Philly regional donut variation with an exotic Italian sounding name I nervously asked- "what are these square things over here?" to which the counter woman replied -"donuts."

"And how about these ring pastries over here?"

"Donuts. They're all donuts. 6 bucks a dozen."





Anyway these were some decent freshly made donuts, with my favorites being the black & white pretzel and the light & airy cream filled small square ones - about 2 or 3 bites each and not too hard to eat 3 or 4 with a cup of coffee.

Bakery
3rd & Wolf
Philadelphia

Voodoo Doughnut - Maple Bacon Bar

Note: this is a guest post from Garrett Morlan, an illustrator and designer living in Seattle who will be sending in reports from the northwest on occasion. Check out more of his work at garrettmorlan.com.

If you haven't yet seen it on the likes of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" or Adam Richmond's "Man vs. Food", downtown Portland's Voodoo Doughnut is a bizarre and fun bakery. The original location is super tiny and the atmosphere alone will make you think you are in some sort of dark fun house or New Orleans style voodoo shop complete with severed arms and skulls aplenty.



Voodoo Doughnut has a wide array of tasty and creative concoctions, from the classic "Voodoo Doughnut" a voodoo doll shaped doughnut with pretzel stick sticking out of it, or the "Arnold Palmer"
which is a cake doughnut covered with lemon and tea powder. But the must have, the end all be all in flavor indulgences in my opinion is the Bacon Maple Bar, a standard bar shaped doughnut covered in plenty of gooey maple icing and topped off with a couple strips of delicious crispy bacon.



The Bacon Maple Bar is by far the best doughnut i’ve ever had. If you think that bacon and doughnuts don’t go together, well just think of getting a little wayward maple syrup on your bacon when you eat pancakes or french toast, but this is even better. This salty and sweet mixture is out of this world and you just can’t beat it, besides, bacon makes everything better! Although I did find myself thinking that if I eat too many of these i'll end up either hallucinating as if cursed by a voodoo witch doctor or just on a hospital gurney.


Overall the doughnuts are huge, fresh, soft and delicious and if you are ever in Portland, OR. swing by and get something, you won't be disappointed. And if you find that you LOVE Voodoo Doughnut, well, you can actually get married there too!

A Legal Voodoo Wedding is $300 and includes:
Legal wedding Ceremony , Doughnuts and coffee for 6 people.
(6 people only due to limited capacity)

Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Avenue
Portland Oregon

San Francisco/ Mission 2/ Dynamo Donuts

Oh Dynamo Donuts, your 3 dolla holla donuts, with bacon topping and well designed everything and your super serious donut bakers.

Yes Donuts, along with hot dogs and damned cupcakes, taken to a higher level. I love donuts. Drawing for Food is based on a love of drawing butts and hot dogs and finding the perfect donut. Here for 3 bucks you can get a Apple Maple glazed donut topped with fresh crunchy bacon. Or a banana dulce de leche donut ( sold out ), or a fresh hot cross bun donut, with cardamon and vanilla pastry cream.

Yes the maple apple bacon donut, lived up to expectation. Thanks for messing with my donut fantasies Dynamo Donuts. It's like getting the hot bartender's number, but he lives in San Francisco.

Dynamo Donuts
2760 24th St
(between Hampshire St & York St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 920-1978

Pabbit donuts

I can't ever turn down donuts. Anytime anyone does donuts as a dessert, I'm getting it. All forms of donuts count too, Beignets, Churros, Donuts, any type of fried fresh dessert.

Thanks Pub and Kitchen for making it happen, bourbon apples, fresh cinnamony donuts, and the best damned vanilla marshmallow creme dipping situation.

Pub and Kitchen
1946 Lombard St
Philadelphia, PA 19146

Best Donuts

A friend of mine was in massachusetts recently and brought back a few dozen of the best donuts I've ever had in my life. They're as big as a giant hamburger, and stuffed with insane amounts of filling. Made fresh every day at Atkins Farms country market in South Amherst, massachusetts. Apparently they are famous for their apple cider and "cider donuts" that I have yet to try. They have their own apple orchard so it's all fresh and for real.






Atkins Farms Country Market
Rt 116 & Bay RD
South Amherst, MA 01002

atkinsfarms.com

key lime pie donuts

...so alot of people are down on dunkin donuts, saying the coffee tastes like chemicals, new stores opening up on every block, every two days shutting out all those mom n pop artisanal donut shops. but I freakin' love dunkin donuts. this key lime pie donut really hit the spot, and i'll take their coffee over starbucks any day.