Carpe Donut Seizes the Donut Trend

One day after I’d already eaten, I noticed this truck with a naggingly familiar logo parked on the northwest corner of 51st Street and Park Avenue outside the AT&T store. Midtown Lunch noticed them a little over a year ago, but it doesn’t seem like we covered the donuts… I was curious and figured a little sweet treat to end my lunch would work… See what they have and what I got after the jump.

They only offer one donut style and flavor, organic apple cider donuts. I was a bit appalled at the prices – $2.25 for one?! – since I’m used to the small ones they sell at the apple picking places or farmer’s markets. But I sucked it up for ML readers and ordered one… because I failed to notice their “FRODO” until after I’d already ordered, plus I didn’t really feel like ice cream. They also offer volume discounts – the more donuts you buy, the cheaper they are, with the cheapest being a baker’s dozen, 13 donuts for $20, working out to a little more than $1.50 a donut. (Unless they don’t know what a baker’s dozen is, which is entirely possible as I’ve seen some places say that but then not realize it’s actually 13. I thought this was common knowledge, but…) Coffee and spiced cider – both in hot or iced varieties – round out the menu, along with water and hibiscus iced tea.

After I’d ordered, I noticed this sign below the window. The donuts are made with organic flour, sugar, spices, and local pastured eggs and cider, then “lovingly cooked” in unhydrogenated soybean and/or sustainable palm oil. The used oil is then used as biofuel. All things to justify the high cost of a single apple cider donut, I suppose, but if these aren’t things that you also find important, you may not feel it warrants that price tag.

And here’s the donut, which came warm to hot – but not piping hot, to my happiness, as I have this awful habit of trying to eat things while they are still way too hot to consume and burning the hell out of my mouth – and was bigger than I’d expected, closer to the size of a regular donut, and was actually really, really good. The granulated sugar on the outside was a nice crunchy counterpoint to the soft innards, and there was a good crust on the outside of the donut. I really enjoyed my donut, and thought it was a nice little snack.

I think I need to go back to try the FRODO – the ice cream donut sandwich – before I give a full +/- – so that may be upcoming.

To find them, check out their Twitter – it looks like they park in Midtown at the northwest corner of 51st and Park and at 55th/Broadway twice a week, and elsewhere around the city and Brooklyn the rest of the time.

Anyone try the FRODO? Share in comments what you thought! And if anyone can tell me what their logo is reminiscent of, I would be super grateful – it just looks so familiar…

Carpe Donut, follow their Twitter for location updates.

4 Comments

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    The logo looks like Crisp’s logo.

    • Thanks! I’ve actually never been to Crisp – it reminds me of something like an old timey Beauty Parlor logo or something, or something like from the 60s or 70s but I can’t put my finger on exactly WHAT…

  • This truck parks on Bergen St at Court almost every weekend, and though I feel like it does better business in winter, I haven’t overheard much complaining about prices from people in Cobble Hill. I think they are a nice once-in-awhile treat and agree it’s nice they usually come out hot, but not too hot to hold or bite into.

  • Had one of their donuts today. It was greasy, but I enjoyed it.

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