Krispy Kreme

 
OK. Let’s look each other in the eye and admit one thing, shall we? Let’s be totally honest, truthful and forthright. When I look into the Fox 7 camera and say those two most compelling words “KRISPY KREME,” what happens?

Well, in all likelihood, you already know. Forget the fact that you can eat a lighter than air Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut in about 3 seconds. Or that it costs you 210 calories and 12 grams of fat to do so. Forget the fact that you now you just can’t stop at one. Nobody can. In fact, gluttony, in the presence of hot Krispy Kremes, is not only predictable, it’s all but guaranteed. Forget those flashing moments of guilt when you remember the sad, miserable little faces of your children, their hopes dashed on the rocks of despair after you ate the entire dozen doughnuts earmarked for them on your way home.

Such is life in Austin in the midst of the culinary phenomenon known as KRISPY KREME. While Krispy’s origins date back to 1937, Austin’s first KK bakery, on Research, opened only a few years ago. And it was sheer pandemonium from the get go. Hordes of doughnut crazed Austinites clogged an already crowded 183, standing in line for hours to get their glazed, raspberry filled, and cake doughnuts. The Austin store can crank out around 500 dozen doughnuts an hour and even at that prodigious rate, the infrastructure was strained by the demand.

Things have calmed down a bit, several years later, but not by much as far as I can tell. When the hot doughnut light is flashing, doughnut lovers, like lemmings running over a cliff, flock to the birthplace of sugary decadence, Krispy Kreme.

There’s a South location now, on Stassney. And you can even buy them in Tiger Mart stores.

So what is it that makes Krispy Kreme what it is? It’s like asking Celin Dion what a power ballad is? Man, if you don’t know, I can’t tell you.

Well, let me try. Consider the Krispy Kreme doughnut. Exhibit A. Observe the texture, the lightness. This comes from the way they use yeast. Creating air pockets in the doughnuts. And while these may have more fat than the average doughnut, they also have more monosaturated fat (that’s the good kind of fat). And let’s face it, fat creates flavor.

So you take a bite. And then, a second. You look around furtively, suddenly developing a hoarding instinct. They’re your doughnuts. No one else’s. Life is good.

There are many reasons to enjoy life in a cosmopolitan city such as Austin. And one compelling reason to live in a city this size is that we are big enough to have not one, but two Krispy Kremes. Eat your heart out Waco.

For Fox 7 news, I’m Rob Balon dining… er… munching out, at Krispy Kreme.