Durham chef Tom Ferguson left today for what he's calling the U.S. Donut Tour 2012.
He and co-worker Brian Wiles are travelling to seven cities in eight days to taste as many biscuits and donuts as possible and all for us. This trip is research for their new shop, Rise Biscuits and Donuts, to open in October. (I wrote about Rise earlier and it is planned for a location near The Streets of Southpoint mall.)
If you want to live vicariously through Tom and Brian's eating adventures. They'll be posting photos on their Facebook page and via Twitter @RiseDurham.
Here is the itinerary:
Seattle: Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts and Mighty-O Donut.
Portland: Voodoo Doughnut and Pine State Biscuits.
Los Angeles: Randy's Donuts and Primo's Donuts.
Austin: Gourdoughs Specialty Doughnuts and Round Rock Donuts.
St. Louis: The Donut Stop and Eddie's Southtown Donuts.
Atlanta: Sublime Doughnuts.
New York: Doughnut Plant and Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop.
Ferguson says they are visiting many of the places named by Food & Wine and Bon Appetit as the best donut shops in the country. And he says the plane ticket for this trip only cost $1,250. (Doesn't that make you want to plan your own donut-eating adventure?) And he's already figured out with this personal trainer how much he has to exercise each day while they are on the donut tour. No doubt.
If you would like to help Ferguson and his team perfect their biscuits and donuts, they are offering free samples from 8-11 a.m. Sept. 1 at Bean Traders coffeehouse near Southpoint. If you go, you can hear highlights of the U.S. Donut Tour 2012.
