New York

Good nuts, good dough. Angry Poles, excellent prices. A thousand times cheaper than The Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side and far less creative in the flavor department, Peter Pan Doughnuts is a doughnut shop for the poor and none-too-picky. Sure, I'd prefer a tres leche-and-pistachio flavored cake doughnut, but for 60 cents, and gigantically sized, industrial vanilla cream is A-OK with me. And about those angry Poles, I embellished… It seems to be only the geriatric patrons barking over their cakes ‘n coffee sitting at the Formica counter who fit that description. The girls bagging doughnuts are nice as can be.

Photo:  Rebecca Katherine Hirsch

Some people think you gain your co-workers respect through hard work, following up on deadlines, and treating them in a courteous manner. Well, most of us know that’s total BS. The key to winning them over comes down to one word—donuts. It’s early Friday morning, half the staff is hung over, and you show up with a box of prized treats. You, my friend, are an instant office hero. Just make sure not to bring some crappy Krispy Kreme types, but good old-fashioned hand made holes of joy. Since JetBlue hasn’t started flying in Seattle’s Top Pot Donuts (yet), we’ll settle for Peter Pan’s in Neverland, Brooklyn aka Greenpoint. The cinnamon twist and honey dew are pure magical goodness. Plus, cute Polish servers wear old-school pink and turquoise smocks as they box up your order. Now if only Tinkerbell could fly them over to Chinatown each morning…

Photo:  Craig Nelson