for the record

For years I've been wanting to host a doughnut party.  For years my family and friends have scoffed at me.  Doughnuts weren't hip enough for them, evidently.  And yet, now we find ourselves witnessing the eclipse of the cupcake.  Welcome, fine doughnut shops across the land.

Astro Doughnuts does doughnuts and fried chicken, which I saw being pulled upstairs on a dumbwaiter into their tiny store front like the Phantom of the Opera.  Line out the door and down the block in its first week, which was last week.  Co-owned by a former Caps player.  Done.

I have yet to try GBD in Dupont but it does doughnuts and chicken and stays open well past midnight.  Quite the niche market.  With Krispy Kreme brick and mortars few and far between these days (although there is one in Dupont...), it's comforting to me to see the next generation of shops specializing in sugary fried dough.  It's really the American version of the European way.