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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Black Coffee and Donuts, LA-style

by Xani

A week before the big debut at Great Tastes, my real job took me to LA yet again. I decided to go out a few days early and enjoy the President's Day weekend in sunny SoCal. And moments after landing at LAX (at 9am-- you do the math and figure out the god-awful hour I had to leave my house in Baltimore), my lovely cousin Ann and I were off for our first culinary adventure: Randy's Donuts !

They have a drive-thru!

Mmmm.... Donuts.

You may recognize this iconic building-- The World Famous Randy's Donuts is a tiny shack right near the airport with a HUGE donut on top. And more importantly, dozens of delicious regular-size donuts inside. Ann and I picked up a dozen assorted types (plus an extra twist, "for the road") and a couple of coffees and headed back to her sunny apartment in Santa Monica.

We were sure to sample all the interesting/recommended types of donuts from Randy's, as well as our personal favorites: twist (supposedly a favorite in-the-car treat), buttermilk, apple fritter, double chocolate cake, maple bar, coconut, etc. And here they are in all their glory!

And here are the remains after we devoured them, along with more cups of delicious strong black coffee...

Yum! These were excellent. My favorites were the buttermilk and the double chocolate cake. The buttermilk had a not-too-sweet inside with a nice cake-y texture, and the double chocolate cake tasted like Cocoa Puffs! The maple bar had a super-sweet filling (a little too sweet for my taste, but not for Ann!). The coconut, apple fritters and bear claws-- all good, but now just a fuzzy memory, swirling with sugar and caffeine...

Feeling super-full of donuts, we took a nice stroll down to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, which was closing up shop but still had a delightful array of fruits, veggies, herbs, cheeses, organic products, etc, etc, and then through the Promenade to people-watch and window shop. Pretty soon we all had "donut hangovers" (did you know this was possible??) and needed to rest for a bit before our next meal.... Coming soon!

X

6 comments:

  1. OMG donuts! So jealous you got to go to such a famous donut shop (with a drive-thru!).

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  2. I've seen that donut shop in LA!

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  3. Damn. Now I'm in a mood for a Donut

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  4. I hate donuts, but that makes me want to eat them. I drove by that place a few times when I was livin' the SoCal lifestyle. Avoid Winchell's, though. Nasty excuse for a donut.

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  5. Love this post and second that the Donut Hangover was for real! I'm rehabbing until your next visit. Strong coffee mentioned was Major Dickason's blend from Peet's Coffee, a predominantly Californian company, worth checking out when visiting here.

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