Food & Drink in Red Bank

It’s just past 9 p.m. on a Thursday, long after most of Manhattan’s trendier donut shops have closed for the night. But The Donut Pub will be open all night long, neon sign a-blazing—just as it has been every evening since 1964. Inside the shop on 14th Street in Chelsea, “Magic Mike” stands behind the back counter with his magician’s supplies spread out before him, ready to perform tricks and illusions for the steady stream of customers who will come through the door. He’s been a regular at the Pub for 38 years—“Can’t you tell I love donuts?” he asked, pointing to his belly—and after he retired from the New York City Fire Department, he took up magic, bringing his act to his favorite neighborhood hangout. (He also performs private shows and sells magic supplies at the Pub and elsewhere.) But Magic Mike is only one of many regulars at the 24/7 shop. There are also the dozens of businessmen who appear every morning with their copies of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to order the Sip & Dip special (coffee and a donut for $2.90) to accompany the day’s news. Operations manager and baker Gus Markatos started working at the Pub while in high school in the 1990s and has held his current role since 2002. He’s a regular sight behind the counter every morning and not an unusual one in the evenings, either. Most anyone who visits the Pub on the regular knows Gus, and the feeling is mutual—though “there are so many regulars [he] can’t even count,” he knows them all by sight and many by name. Gus isn’t the only familiar face behind the counter. There’s also Buzzy Geduld, the retired Wall Street multimillionaire who founded and still owns The Donut Pub. Patty, who works from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every weekend, has been at the Pub since it opened and has the stories to prove it. (More than a few late-late-late-night revelers come in asking for a beer with their donuts, not realizing that the “pub” name isn’t quite literal, she said.) Sammy, who works various afternoon and evening shifts during the week, has been at the Pub since 1980. Other counter staffers come and go regularly with the seasons. Though the Pub and its clientele seem unchanged through the decades, its neighborhood is not. Just a few blocks uptown, a much-changed Chelsea Hotel now houses the Doughnut Plant, a decidedly froufrou spot whose signature crème brûlée donuts cost upwards of $3 each. You’d think that with all this gentrification, The Donut Pub would have seen some hard financial times. But according to Gus, it’s been the exact opposite. “We’ve put two Dunkin’ Donuts out of business,” he said. “One on 14th Street a few blocks down and another around the corner.” And he doesn’t think that “artisanal” donut shops have anything on the Pub, either, no matter how trendy their flavors or presentation may be. “We are better than the competition: always fresh, and they are made with love.” There’s lots of love to go around here. The Village Voice named the Pub’s chocolate cake donut among the city’s best. CBS NY7 did the same for its honey dip donut, whereas both Gothamist and Tasting Table ranked its jelly-filled donut among the best. (My personal favorites are the boston creme and the sugar-raised, but I’d take any of them before walking out empty-handed.) Gus isn’t stingy with the love on the baking side of things, either. It’s not unusual to see him coming out of the back room with a rack of freshly baked croissants that he happily shares with regulars, sometimes on the house. (Yes, The Donut Pub has a full line of pastries, including muffins, cookies, biscuits, bagels, and bialys.) He has even developed his own version of the crazy-popular cronut, which some daresay is better than the one you-know-who makes (and people wait on line for hours for). Gus’s black-and-white cookie is among the best in the city—I can vouch personally for its ability to single-handedly soothe even the worst sort of New York heartbreak. That includes at least one romance that both began and ended at The Donut Pub, with Gus and company as witness. To their professional credit, they didn’t take sides, and the cookie was on the house. But the best part about working at The Donut Pub? Sammy and Gus agree: it’s the donuts. “I eat a donut every day,” Gus said. But as he stands there framed by racks and racks of tempting sweets, it’s hard to believe he stops at just one. No one else I know is able to. The Donut Pub is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and is located at 203 W. 14th St., just west of 7th Avenue. Photos by Amy L. Hayden. Check Groupon for deals on coffee and treats in New York City.

Cutie Pies NYC is a one-woman show. “I do just about everything except churn the butter right now,” says Alice Cronin, the baker behind the Brooklyn-based confectionery. Cronin has been familiar with the ways of the oven since age 5, when she mastered her grandmother’s chocolate-chip cookie recipe. Since then, however, she’s moved on to more sophisticated desserts, having honed her skills while maintaining the cookbook section of a Montclair, New Jersey, bookstore. Working to a soundtrack of Cibo Matto, Los Amigos Invisibles, and fittingly, Cake, she now rolls cream-cheese rugelachs, laces peach pies with thyme, and gels vegan cream pies using agar. Of all the desserts that she makes, Cronin’s favorite is her coconut cream pie. She’s not alone: the dairy-rich dessert took home first place at the City Reliquary’s pie contest in 2011. “I’m not sure if it has anything to do with nostalgia—I watched loads of Gilligan's Island reruns when I was little—or the way it riffs on the rich, steeped-in-diner-chic desserts that harken back to old-school decadence,” she says of her fondness for coconut flavor. “It tastes rich and creamy, but the texture is surprisingly light.” Cronin crafts myriad variations on sweet and buttery flavors, and she experiments with savory elements, too. Soon, she’s set to unveil a savory guacamole and corn-nut-crust pielette. Taste Cronin’s gourmet baked goods for yourself by placing a custom order, or look for her at these New York City markets: Smorgasburg Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in East River State Park at N. 7th St. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Tobacco Warehouse at 30 Water St. Bust Magazine Craftacular and Food Fair Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pearl Street Plaza (Pearl Street at Water Street)

You can’t rush perfection, but you can wash it down correctly. The DeMarco family explains why you won’t mind waiting for a slice at Di Fara Pizza and what you should bring to drink. Worth the Wait Dom DeMarco isn’t big on advertising. Probably because he doesn’t need it. Dom—owner, founder, and sole chef at Di Fara Pizza—knows he’ll have a crowd to feed no matter what. The masses waiting in line outside Di Fara’s modest storefront, next door to a 99-cent shop in Brooklyn, are evidence of that. So is the fact that they’re waiting for the chance to hand over $5 for a piece of pizza. Five bucks might seem a bit much for a single slice, but these devotees clearly don’t mind. Even Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on the discussion. “If you’ve ever had a really great slice of pizza,” he told the New York Times, “you know there are worse deals.” But the food at Di Fara doesn’t really need mayoral endorsements. Margaret DeMarco, Di Fara’s manager and Dom’s daughter, explained why the pies are their own best advertisement: “[The] pizzas are made with two cheeses and fresh, snipped basil and a drizzle of olive oil. The square is a slightly thicker crust, twice-baked, made with a richer sauce, and is a much heartier choice. The round is quite delicate in texture. We're famous for both." Margaret has worked alongside her father for more than 20 years now, and like the rest of her six siblings, she has, not surprisingly, developed cooking skills that she calls a “special art.” But dad is still in charge of all the cooking, and will be “as long as he has the strength and the desire.” He was born in Italy’s Provincia di Caserta, and he uses all imported ingredients for his pies—from the buffalo mozzarella cheese brought from Italy to the basil from Israel. While You Wait (and While You Eat): Take Advantage of Di Fara’s BYOB Option You won’t see mention of it on Di Fara’s website, but the pizzeria is also BYOB. In 2011, the Village Voice named Di Fara one of its 10 Best BYOB Restaurants in the city, encouraging guests to “uncork your best bottle of red and indulge in a marriage of gastronomic perfection." Margaret said that since the Village Voice article, they’ve noticed a lot of customers opting to bring along something to drink in the evenings. “Wine is usually the choice for most, but beer is also brought in,” she said. Margaret’s most important pairing recommendation for those settling in at one of the eatery’s coveted 19 seats? Try a slice of both the round pie and the square pie for the sake of comparison. After that wait, you’ve probably earned it. What Booze to Bring Serious Eats says: Czech Krušovice beer “Krušovice, with its sweet, almost caramel flavor, is a dark (basically black) beer, that's hardly found in the States … A cold Krušovice with a hot, olive oily, basily Di Fara's slice, is my idea of each food group at its best,” said writer Erin Zimmer, who suggests picking it up at Associated Supermarket directly across the street. Gothamist says: Italian red wines “Bring a bottle of chianti or a barbera.”