2011 - The Year of the Doughnut

I've always loved doughnuts... a lot.  However, until this year, I have never actively sought them out.  It just seems to be ones of those food themes that just fell into place for some reason.  Wherever I went, there was some legendary doughnut place nearby that I was required to check out.  I'm not talkin' 'bout no Krispy Kreme... I'm talkin' legit local motion.  In the past six months I have been to the top three doughnut shops in the Pacific Northwest, and I do have to say I have proclaimed a winner.

Yes, there was a contest... whether you knew it or not.

IN THIRD PLACE-



Top Pot Doughnuts
http://www.toppotdoughnuts.com/

Their main claim to fame seems to be their ability to spread the scent of frying dough throughout downtown Seattle and make certain Seahawk players break into their establishment after hours.  Other than that, their doughnuts are actually quite mediocre.

IN SECOND PLACE-
Voodoo Doughnuts (including Voodoo Too), Portland, OR
http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php





Claim to fame- they've been mentioned on Food Network and had an adequate bacon maple bar... not that I would know.  I stood in line for 20 minutes on a 90 degree day just to get inside.  Once inside, we asked if there were still BMBs available... we were assured there were.  30 minutes later when we actually got to the counter, they were sold out.  To say that I was disappointed is the understatement of the year.  I ordered the Boston Creme and had bites of everyone else's doughnuts... they were average at best.

I thought the year of doughnuts was over and done with... UNTIL...

Patrick Marshall posted something on his Facebook.

I've known Pat since at LEAST 10th grade (1977 for those of you who are counting).  I had never even heard of Legendary Doughnuts until one morning a couple weeks ago when he posted a photo on his Facebook wall.  There was a bacon maple bar... half the size of his keyboard... I thought it was an illusion.

I Googled the name, hoping it was some obscure shop in the Issaquah highlands...

Much to my dismay, it is a shop not 10 minutes from my house.  All the clothes in my closet groaned in a collective sigh of pain... and off I drove.



Legendary Doughnuts is located at 1410 Lake Tapps Parkway East... the maps will tell you Auburn, people will tell you Lake Tapps or Lakeland.  It's in the shopping center at the top of the hill.

Less than one hour after determining it's location, I was walking in the front door.  As I assessed the case, the employee du jour approached.







I asked if he would mind if I took some pictures for my blog, and he said that was fine.

I snapped one of the interior...



 
I then said I would need some samples and he got this weird look.

I said "Get a box.  I'll have two of those... two of those... two of those... oh and a couple of those..."



Apple Fritter... buttermilk bars...



Twix bar, blueberry cake doughnuts...



Lake Tapps doughnut, Sex in the Citys, and a couple of Oprahs...



I left a happy camper...



Miko enjoyed her Lake Tapps doughnut...



and my Oprah was beyond excellent....



I told the guy who was working the shop I was doing a comparison and contrast piece of local doughnut shops, but there really is no comparison.  Legendary Doughnuts IS legendary, and there is no comparison.

End of story.

http://www.legendarydoughnuts.com/