Erin C.'s Profile

Atkins Farms received mention in a national magazine for their cider donuts, so off to Amherst I went, with two doughnut-eating compatriots in tow.

There's very little not to like about the place. It's set in a beautiful part of western Massachusetts, it's touristy as heck, and it serves delicious coffee and donuts in a friendly, comfortably-crowded setting. I will admit that I don't know much about cider donuts, but I liked what I ate: good texture and nice flavor with just a hint of apple cider tang. Perhaps as I expand my cider donut horizons, I'll have a better idea of just how Atkins Farms stacks up. Until then, I recommend it highly.

I feel like I, of all people, should be thrilled by the idea of hot donuts made to order and by endlessly customizable donuts in crazy flavors. I mean, the fresh donuts of Donut Man in Southern California have the power to bring me to tears and even a properly fresh Krispy Kreme has a certain charm. And I'm all for the wackiness of Northern California's Psycho Donuts or Portland's Voodoo Donuts. But I when I visited Fractured Prune, I spent most of my time thinking about the fact that their mascot was a total rip-off of the California Raisin. I was that unimpressed by the smoking hot piles of grease and glaze in front of me as well as the restaurant around me.

Here's the first problem: fresh is meaningless if it isn't made well. And Fractured Prune seems to assume that people will overlook the fact that their donuts are not cooked, drained, or flavored properly just because they are hot.

Here's the second problem: crazy flavors are useless if they don't taste good. It's pretty awesome, in theory, that you can get mint glaze and Reese's Pieces on your donut if that's your thing. But the glazes here are cloying in texture and overpowering in artificial flavor, and nobody bothered to stop and consider the fact that not every flavor offered tastes good on a plain yeast-raised donut.

And finally, the restaurant is not a pleasant place to be. The coffee is not that great, and there is not much seating in the rather large, empty space. This is fine if you're getting a dozen to go, but it's not a place to spend time savoring your donut.

With some retooling of the too-expansive menu, revisitation of proper donut-making traditions and techniques, and remodeling of the restaurant, Fractured Prune could lure me back into downtown Silver Spring. Until then my quest for a decent donut in the mid-Atlantic states will continue.

Donut Bazar is my favorite donut joint in Rhode Island, and has been ever since I drove into Providence for the first time and saw its beacon of a misspelled sign welcoming me (and probably also making fun of me) from the side of Highway 2. It only got better when I visited and found it was a haven for what I consider to be the real Rhode Island: folks of all sorts gathering in the shop's old-school booths and around its old-school counters to eat perfectly acceptable donuts (I prefer the cake varieties here), drink pefectly acceptable coffee, play Keno, and talk shop with the owners and with one another. Show up, shut up, eat your donut, and you just might learn something about life in southern New England.

The best moment of my trip to Randy's was when my donut-eating companion and I pulled off the highway and I actually said, "Wait, what was the address again? How are we going to FIND it?" My companion, dumbfounded, nodded toward the giant donut looming over Manchester Boulevard (the donut we had come to Randy's in part to view) and I felt appropriately stupid.

No, wait, the best moment of my trip to Randy's was when I bit into their perfectly soft, light, melt-in-your-mouth glazed donut and remembered why I've never had much use for Krispy Kreme.

No, wait, the best moment of my trip to Randy's was when I bit into my first nutty, flavorful honey and wheat donut and was transported to a whole new level of Los Angeles donut consumption.

No, wait, the best moment of my trip to Randy's was when my donut-eating companion and I determined that a firing range, pool hall, car wash, and liquor store were all within walking distance and that a person could have the BEST DAY EVER right there under the shadow of the giant donut.

No, wait, the best moment of my trip to Randy's was the quick jaunt down the road to LAX that allowed me to get my donut fix and make my flight in time.

No, wait . . . .

Best Thai food I've had outside of Thailand. Hands down.

To my mind, there can only be one Donut Man. It is located in Glendora, California, and serves the most mind-bogglingly amazing donuts I know. So I was actually angry when I drove by during a day trip to western Massachusetts and saw what I considered to be a cheap copy. So angry that, I, you know, went in and had a donut. To demonstrate the superiority of the Glendora Donut Man. To prove a point.

What redeemed this place, at least somewhat, was the chocolate cake donut with buttercrunch coating. It was, in addition to being a really hard variety to find, actually pretty darned delicious. So I will grudgingly concede that while there can only be one Donut Man, Hadley's Donut Man is . . . alright by me, too.

Not a dive bar, but a nice little neighborhood spot. I wish they would turn down the music so that one can actually speak to and hear one's drinking companions, and I wish they would consistently charge me the same price for the same drink. Stil, it's worth the trip around the corner from Seven Stars.

I was tempted to give five stars simply because Rhode Island finally got a Trader Joe's, but this is also a good Trader Joe's, clean and well-stocked with a great staff. My only tiny complaint is that they don't sample coffee along with their food, which is a fairly standard practice at the stores in California. But still--it's a Trader Joe's, and it's in Rhode Island, and it saved me from the perils of Whole Foods and Stop and Shop, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

It's tough to choose between Brickley's and Gray's, but I have to say that Brickley's offers what is probably the best ice cream in Rhode Island. They convinced me that Grape-Nut ice cream was actually delicious, and they convinced my New England-hating parents that there was actually something worthwhile in this state. The portions are huge and cheap, and the staff is always super-friendly. What more do you need to convince yourself?

Together with Kafe Lila, Machines With Magnets is forcing me to reconsider the city of Pawtucket, which I had previously thought of as "the place where Slater Mill and the DMV are." Currently I think of Pawtucket as "the place where Slater Mill and the DMV and Kafe Lila and Machines With Magnets are," but if I spend enough time at KL and MWM, my view will undoubtedly become more nuanced.

Machines With Magnets is a recording studio, art gallery, and performance space that has fast become my favorite music venue and possibly one of my favorite places in Rhode Island. The inside is beautiful, with two large rooms decked out in cool white paint and beautiful hardwood flooring (one floor is stenciled with an absolutely stunning pattern). Art of varied quality adorns the walls.

I have now had the pleasure of attending two shows here--an electronic music performance and Quintron + Miss Pussycat--and I enjoyed them both. Watching bands perform with art as a backdrop is a pleasure. The sound is good and the venue is run fairly efficiently. At the latter show, they quickly cycled through four bands by alternating the rooms in which each band performed. Very smart. The crowds are fun and interesting. Drinks, Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and even pizza are sold for reasonable prices.

During my first visit, a friend turned to me and said, "I wish I lived here." "I wish I could DJ here," I replied. Until either of these things happens, I'll be stopping in periodically for more music and art. You should, too.