Dissection Of A Menu: Dough

If you haven't had lunch yet, you might want to come back later. Fortunately and unfortunately I've discovered a bakery named Dough not too far from my apartment. Judging by my Brooklyn guide to The Best French Toast on Scoop Street and all of the gushing about my Baked book, you'd never know that I am actually pretty careful with my sugar intake but these donuts are godly. Oh, and I'm doing the 6:30 spin class, so I'm not feeling that guilty.

photography by so does estella

On the menu: Donuts, fruit iced tea, coffee & a small selection of dry goods.

Fare: Excellent
Dough is serious. Not just because they're fresh and sweet or any other combination of characteristics donuts should have, but because they've got baking down to a science. The edible amazements come in a slew of unexpected flavors including:

Chocolate & Earl Grey
Hibiscus
Lemon Meringue
Lemon Poppy
Chai Cream
Chocolate Chipotle
Blood Orange

Branding: Wins. Amazing Type & Logo!

Interior Design (as shown above): Wins!! Dough manages to be industrial, yet warm and cozy with a schoolhouse vintage feel.

1. Ivory plaster with contrasting exposed beams and simple signage with brilliant type.
2. A Blood Orange Donut.
3. Fading Sidewalk Chalkboard (illustrates their use of simplicity throughout)
4. The variety.

So the big question--are we eating the brand or whats on the menu? Both!  Dough scores in both areas. Have you been? Let me know if you plan to visit.

Vintage Swim: Balconies of Old San Juan

During the few opportunities I've had to sign in on Twitter, you asked where was I. Summer stay-cation! It was definitely tough to stay away from the blog-o-sphere. Then again, on the island where I spent most of my time, there was only one cafe in town that had wifi, so I guess I wouldn't have had have much of a choice. Let me tell you, I missed you guys and I'm happy to be back.

I would say that it were by accident that I ended up in Old San Juan but nothing happens by accident, right? A big mishap when traveling from Isla de Vieques back home, lead to an extended stay in Old San Juan Puerto Rico...then I fell in love.

 photography  by so does estella

The colonial architecture of Old San Juan blew me away. And since you can't really call anything that is colonial, vintage, we're going with Antique on this post title. On the trip I met amazing people, I realized that my Spanish verb conjugations need some serious brushing up and I imagined having a cup of coffee with fresh bread on a village balcony every morning during New York's guaranteed-to-be-brutal-again Winter. It might happen.

You know where I'm going with this...if you had to choose just one, which would you go with? As I pose the question, I'm trying to guess which one's I think you all will pick based on what I know of your personalities. :) For me, it's a toss up between #1 and #2. You know the girl has a weakness for  the teal! (Oh and for a bonus #1 has a view of Castillo de San Cristóbal, the Spanish Fort.)