Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee
New Years Cake – Vanilla Cake, Silver Jimmies, Madagascar Vanilla Bean Glaze
Persimmon Cake – Persimmon Cake, Brandy, Candied Ginger, Sultanas, Persimmon Glaze, Maple Sugar Roasted Pecans
Brennan’s Bananas Foster – Raised Ring, Muscavado Sugar and Dark Rum Bananas, Roasted Banana Cream
Salty Caramel – Raised Ring, House Caramel, Jacobsen Sea Salt
Choc A Lot – Raised Chocolate Ring, Callebaut Chocolate Glaze, Cocoa Nibs
Saigon Cinnamon Crumb – Saigon Cinnamon Cake Doughnut, Sweet Glaze, Cinnamon Crumble
Country Ham & Eggs – Raised Doughnut, Poached Egg, Benton’s Ham, House Made Basil Hollandaise
Buttermilk Drop – Buttermilk and Nutmeg, Sweet Glaze
Fortuitously “discovered” during a trip to Costa Mesa years prior, the inconvenience of driving to the area really the only reason every visit to Southern California has not returned to Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee for another handcrafted treat, it was with great anticipation that the GPS was programed to Santa Monica en route to El Segundo, the first expansion of the artisan purveyor of fried rings only a few minutes out of the way.
Far more modern than the original Stipmall storefront, an airy space at 631 Wilshire Boulevard mere seconds from the Pacific, Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee II takes a similar approach to doughnuts as its older brother and with bakers clearly visible cracking eggs, rolling dough, and hand forming each of a dozen options the only “problem” is deciding where to draw the line as the ever-changing lineup is boundless in temptation.
Assuredly not you Grandpa’s place for pastry, doughnuts all hovering around $3 with some priced north of $5, servers at Sidecar are mostly of the friendly 20-something beach bunny variety but exceedingly pleasant and efficient despite “everything is yummy” answers regarding favorites…though in reality that answer did prove appropriate.
Eventually proving incapable of limiting the order to a half-dozen, a total of six rings, one filled, and a tangy little Buttermilk Drop tallying $26, it was at an outside hightop in front of Mendocino Farms that treats were unboxed and indulged in, four still warm-to-touch including the lightly sweetened yeast pocket containing a runny free range egg, ham and pleasant notes of basil.
Impressed by the steady stream of traffic, a rare sight at 7:15 on a Sunday morning anywhere around LA, bites were next placed in the airy circle glistening with housemade Caramel and flakes of Sea Salt before turning to the “signature” chocolate-on-chocolate-on-chocolate equally light despite its bittersweet decadence, a Bananas Foster tribute to it’s New Orleans origin featuring a similar yeastiness beneath a boozy bounty of seared fruit and cream.
Turning attention to cake, admittedly my doughnut of choice, one would be hard pressed to name a better take on the crunchy cinnamon classic than this aromatic version topped in glaze plus adherent streusel, the toothsome January special celebrating 2016 dialed up by metallic sheen and sprinkles for texture while the Persimmon base studded with Golden Raisins and candied nuts was so elegant it could have been served with cheese and wine.
www.sidecardoughnuts.com
