The Fried Dough Ho

My last meal at The French Laundry was over two years ago. But my memory of their Coffee and Doughnuts offering rings as the benchmark against which all other haute cuisine restaurants’ doughnuts must aspire to. Reservations for The French Laundry are some of the most difficult to acquire. The meal lasted well over six hours and was more than twenty courses. And yet now — after all this time — what do I remember most? The white truffle supplement (because the truffle was larger than a billiard ball) and the Coffee and Doughnuts.

You must understand, it is not ordinary coffee which is served with this perfection of golden fried dough, but a coffee pot de crème topped with a light cream foam. And the doughnut? Warm, yes. Lightly dusted with Baker’s Sugar (a bit finer in texture than its Granulated Sugar counterpart). A miniature doughnut hole nestled perfectly atop its ringed cousin. The dough is rich and moist and cakey. In a word, Perfect. The roundness of the doughnut was Perfect. The doughnut hole was Perfectly round. It was not served too hot, nor too cold. There was not too much sugar on it, nor was it too sweet.

Rumor has it that this is no longer a standard offering on the tasting menus, but must be requested. I can’t confirm that but if you go, you should make sure to ask about it as in their famous Salmon Cornets, it is a classic French Laundry offering which should not be missed, even if it is not on the menu.

And to my great joy and bliss, I was sent home with a small box of doughnut holes… Because that is what they do at The Laundry: They make their customers as happy as they can…

6640 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-2380

It was pretty funny; Lisa and I were sitting at the bar at Baker & Banker, chatting with an affable server named David, deciding on the dinner choices. The desirability (or not) of a dessert will dictate whether we are sharing variations of starters and entrées. Do we share two starters and two entrées? Three starters and one entrée?  And whilst perusing the menu — and not realizing the dessert menu was printed on the back — I began to inquire about the availability of a fried dough delicacy (because I always try and check, just to make sure).  Before I finished my sentence, David suggested we save room for their specialty dessert, PB&J Doughnuts; strawberry jam-filled goodies with peanut butter dipping sauce. Knowing smiles grow between Lisa and me — she knows me so well and knows how happy this makes me — to have such serendipity.

Our diner completed, David advised us that the doughnuts are normally served in threes and would we like four on our order since we were sharing. Trying to watch the ever-growing waistline, three should be more than enough, thanks. The elongated plate arrived with perfectly round globes of wonder. Warm and crunchy, this was Jelly Doughnut Nirvana with warm, house-made strawberry jam filling oozing out with the first bite (a rarity!). So often with a jelly doughnut, one must eat through a third or a half of the doughnut before the jelly appears. Encrusted with granulated sugar, we took our first bites naked, without the dipping sauce and with that first unctuous fruit hitting our taste buds, smiles and groans were immediately emitted.

The cake structure was light and spongy with a superb amount of tooth to the crunchy exterior. The dipping sauce was made of three simple ingredients; peanut butter, cream, and powdered sugar. The doughnut-alone-bite was perfectly lovely, but laden with the creamy sauce, one is transported back to childhood with a primal memory of wholesome goodness which has been elevated to elegance while still maintaining that sense of familial comfort.

The biggest problem for me is that these are available to me within walking distance and I could see a serious addiction burgeoning.

1701 Octavia St
(between Bush St & Austin St)
San Francisco, CA 94109
Neighborhoods: Pacific Heights, Lower Pac Heights, Japantown
(415) 351-2500

Yes, it is true. During a visit to jolly-old England last fall, I was on a mission to experience Grouse, a specialty game bird that is only available during a very short hunting season in the U.K. and is rarely exported to the U.S. Well, if it IS exported, then it is frozen. I did my research to find one of the better places to eat grouse and was recommended to Harwood Arms. I’ll write up that grouse dinner on a different site, but suffice to say I was definitely thrilled that this five course, sumptuous meal culminated in an offering of Fried Dough!

Bramley Apple Doughnuts with Spiced Sugar and Whipped Cream was how it was listed on the menu. These gorgeous puffs, approximately golf-ball sized, arrived in a sturdy wooden basket lined with brown butcher paper and served with whipped cream.

Unlike our American counterparts, I think some explanation is due on the British decadence of baked goods and dairy products. I am a confessed Anglophile and adore most things British and these golden morsels truly exemplified how such a simple thing can be so decadent. To start, being in the company of handful of gorgeous and charming gentlemen, we had been sipping wine all evening and having wine with doughnuts was no exception; here, a 2006 Clos Dady Sauternes.

The doughnuts were studded with a fine Bramley apple purée which provided an underlying richness beyond pure cooked dough. British sugar is finer in texture than American granulated sugar, so the mouth entry is engaging. And then there is the whipped cream. This is not like any American whipped cream; more akin to crème fraîche, it is denser and richer with a slight tang that complements the dried apricot of the Sauternes and the rich apple of the doughnut. And when all was said and done? Yep, they sent me home with some…

29 Walham Grove
London SW6 1QP
Neighbourhood: West Brompton
020 7386 1847

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