4:00pm Donut & Cannele

Balthazar Bakery is a dessert standby, mostly since it is across the street from our office. A handful of years ago canneles were all the rage in Japan, the name means fluted in French. But that's just a side note.
The more important focus of this posting is the doughnut. We love doughnuts, we'll eat all sorts from mass produced Dunkin Donuts to the homemade cake ones from Balthazar. But our preferred donut is slightly yeasty, fluffy with some resistance - it shouldn't be too light but cannot be too heavy either. Which means we are not huge fans of the local favorite, the Doughnut Plant. By the time they get to the local cafe or grocery store their freshness has faded. They become too heavy and laden with frosting. The best place to get doughnuts of the kind we prefer is the Peter Pan Bakery in Greenpoint. In addition to the doughnuts, the atmosphere is old school, the waitresses (there are no waiters) all wear short short teal and pink uniforms. And if you cannot make it out to Greenpoint, a great alternative is in the Lincoln Building near Grand Central. There is a coffee shop on the first floor that gets there donuts from a bakery in Queens. Even a donut purchased in late afternoon retains its fluffiness. Amazing.