But sadly they are no longer either one. Donuts Delite went out of business years ago and the pink Art Deco building on Culver Road is still still up for sale. My family used to head down there after church and Peggi and I used to stop in there all the time for a fried cake and the best cup of coffee in town. I stopped by yesterday for sentimental reasons and walked around the building. The place has possibilities for dreamers.
I think I overheard Fred Lipp right last night in painting class. I think I heard him say, “How can I make this job easier – for myself?”. If I didn’t catch this completely out of context, I’d say he was explaining how he came up with his teaching methods. His methods are directional and purposeful and efficient and clear. They can take a long time to digest and put into practice mostly because there is so much unlearning to dispense with. His rules are concise. “Get to the subject. Address the worst first. Trust your eye.” These are so powerful that it makes perfect sense that they would also be the right tools to make his job (teaching people how to see) easier.
Fred continued moving across the room and stopped next door at the table where my father was working on his watercolor of the UofR regatta. My father was saying something about what he planned on doing in this painting. Fred was saying, “Painting is a visual adventure, a delight for the eyes. You have to learn to trust your eye. If your eye questions something, pay attention to it and address it”.
Your eye knows more than you give it credit for.
3 Comments
I’m always preaching to anyone who will listen that Donuts Delite was by far the best shop, not just for the quality of the donuts (perfect texture and flavor) but for what it was as an entity. Personally I have never been crazy about Dunkin’ Donuts and I flat out dislike Tim Horton’s donuts. The best part about Donuts Delite was that the same ladies worked behind the counter forever, and the same old neighborhood guys were always sitting there solving the world’s problems. I went often as a young kid with my dad and it eventually became a regular stop for me on my way to work downtown for many years. These days I’ve substituted Starbucks, which is a sad statement (but damn they’ve got good coffee).
I think the only “real” donut shop left in the are is the Ridge Donut Cafe in East Ireondequoit. I was working @ Polymer Products yesterday and one of the secretaries there also works part-time for one of Danny’s mega-stores in the suburbs. We lamented the fact that pretty much all of Rochester’s donuts are made in warehouse bakeries then shipped frozen to the Dunkins and Hortons of the world. The Danny Donts are at least made in a local warehouse bakery and are a little fresher than their donut chain competitors.
Of all the Donuts, though, the Malley family’s products were almost healthy for you! At least, that’s what I choose to believe!
Starbucks has the worst donuts ever. The Mobil station at Culver and University has a little box of donuts every morning that are really good. I don’t know where they come from. Tim Horton’s coffee is terrible and their donuts aren’t so great either.
When I was kid my dad used to make donuts once in awhile and they were awesome- I can still taste them. Maybe I’ll try that some time…