Food Tours · Tour

Bombolone, a 1964 Donut Wall, and a Brioche Finish

Ninety minutes, ten guests, three bakeries, one subject. It is the shortest food tour in the city and the only one that commits entirely to a single item. You meet inside a bakery on Fourth Avenue near Union Square, at the back of the shop, where your guide is wearing a doughnut tour shirt. The first stop is Italian: bombolone, which are round, have no hole, and are filled after frying rather than glazed, in flavours the shop changes constantly. The second is a Greenwich Village institution that has been frying since 1964 and presents them as a wall, every shape and style at once, which is a different kind of decision to make. The last is a brioche doughnut at a café on Greenwich Avenue backed by Tom Colicchio, and it is the one the operator's guests remember: brioche dough is enriched with butter and eggs, so it fries lighter and tastes closer to a pastry than to a doughnut. Between shops the guide points out the landmarks around Union Square and the Village, the small ones as much as the obvious, and fills in the local history, which is what the walking is for. Up to ten travellers, guided in English, suitable for all fitness levels. You leave with recommendations for what else to eat nearby.