The Fried Dough Ho

It was an odd night at Yoshi’s in San Franciso. I was actually hanging out in the lobby area, selling jewelry in an attempt by ArtNowSF to host an evening of art and music. Sadly, most of the people arriving at the jazz music venue that evening were more interested in whomever was performing that evening than my jewelry, the amazing glassblowers, the guerrilla t-shirt designers and graffiti artists. We artists sat there, occasionally peddling a trinket here or a bauble there, but mostly we were left to our own devices.

Fortunately, the waitstaff were pretty accommodating in providing service and after a brief chat with the chef, I was quickly satisfied with a really incredible lobster salad. I had read about a warm doughnut through Michael Bauer’s review on SFGate. He was fairly enthusiastic about them and for a professional critic to specifically name a fried dough as worthy, made it that much more intriguing for me.

And while they were enjoyable, I am not sure they are quite as superlative as Bauer seemed to think. What he said was, “Her warm doughnuts – better than fresh-out-of-the-oven Krispy Kremes – are served with a creamy whiskey sauce.” It is no surprise that I don’t particularly think that Krispy Kremes — fresh-out-of-the-oven or otherwise — are especially noteworthy, so that might have been him just filling fodder in his column space. And mine were not served with a creamy whiskey sauce, but a coffee-flavored sauce that showed no hint of alcohol. And there was a separate shot glass of strawberry sauce with a chocolate-covered Pocky stick there for — well, it was there for something; I’m not quite sure what.

The powdered-sugar-dusted pillows were fluffy and warm, but I also found then surprisingly dense and leaden. I am very curious as to what sort of batter or dough was used for the confection. They weren’t bad, necessarily, but just heavier than I anticipated. If a fried dough is going to be cakey, than it should be rich and tender and these were not. The rumor is that they no longer exist on the menu and perhaps that is a good thing.

I was in Vancouver just before the Winter Olympics. I was very fortunate to have gorgeous walking weather and almost an entire day was spent exploring Granville Island, a must-visit destination spot for visitors. I walked for hours, exploring its art studios, boutique shops, waterfront restaurants, and a pretty fabulous fresh food market. And among all the fabulous gourmet goodies, there loomed above me a bright yellow sign which brought a huge smile to me face; Lee’s Donuts.

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I don’t watch a lot of regular television. I admit that I tend to just watch classic movies over and over, but some close friends recommended 30 Rock to me. I know that creator Tina Fey puts a lot of her own personal interests into the nuances of the show (like continual references to Star Wars) so it made sense that her character’s love of food would include doughnuts.

Apparently they are from a Brooklyn bakery known as Peter Pan and she describes them as “powdered sugar on the outside, white cream-filled donut (not to be confused with Bavarian cream).” It seems the cream filling is “very, very white” and “if made correctly, makes you blind.” Sounds like I need to hit up a special spot in Brooklyn when next I visit New York!

After the long, wet winter, an early Spring Sunday brought about a lovely brunch with Dave and Gina at the San Francisco’s Fillmore District restaurant, Elite Cafe. This was a very special day in so many ways. You see, Darling Gina is the bad-ass, leather-clad, motorcycle-mamma, hot-chick who helped me craft the too-cool-for-words banner you see here at Fried Dough Ho. When I initially came up with the name, I had an idea that a 1950s Burlesque Queen would represent the sultry sauciness of my fried-dough-whoredom, brainstorming that someone like Tempest Storm or Blaze Starr could be Photoshopped with doughnuts masking her attributes. Well it was Gina who thought to go back a few years early and look at the Ziegfeld Girls and when I stumbled on the image of the lovely Evelyn Groves holding a giant hoop, I knew that her naked naughtiness would be the perfect representation of demure and enticing as she grasps the cakey goodness. So here’s a shout-out to Gina!

I like the brunch at Elite Café because of their New Orleans-inspired dishes; shrimp and grits for breakfast can’t be beat. They also have these home-made biscuits that I swear have crack cocaine in them. Even the servers call them Crack Biscuits. And their skillet-served corned beef hash with poached eggs is pretty darn good too. But one of the specialties that invokes New Orleans are their beignets and miniature doughnut holes. The holes come warm and fresh, about a dozen morsels in a small bowl, each less than an inch in diameter, dusted with granulated sugar and cinnamon. They are very addictive and must be eaten while still fresh and warm. Once cold, they lose their charm. At $2.75 a bowl, these should be ordered as you sit down and peruse the menu (along with a Kir Royale or spicey Bloody Mary). 

Elite goes full force with its NoLa menu and no New Orleans knock-off would be worth its salt without a beignet. At $2.00 each, this is where Elite falls short, I’m afraid. Approximately 2″ x 3″ and heavily dusted with powdered sugar, these are heavy and laden and on several occasions, still doughy and gummy inside (as in these pictures). Instead of light and fluffy and addictive, one bite of this door stop was enough for me. Go to Elite Café, yes, but stick to the holes and the biscuits!

2049 Fillmore St
(between California St & Pine St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
Neighborhoods: Pacific Heights, Lower Pac Heights
(415) 346-8400