Suzanne Ma Online

“Fried dough, what’s not to like?” –the story behind the story…

Sunday, July 26th, 2009 | Photos, posts | 5 Comments

This week, my story about the oh-so-beloved Canadian donut chain, Tim Hortons, was published. It serves as a “how are they doing?” story, since opening their first NYC locations 2 weeks ago.

As is the case with all stories, only about 1/9 of the research and interviews you gather actually makes it into the final piece. The painstaking process of cutting down your story to a short 600 words (average news pieces run 400-600) is what we writers call “killing our babies.”

I took special interest in the Tim Hortons story because first, it’s a great story. Second, I’m Canadian. Third, donut taste testing? I’m in!

The donut taste test was my idea. We spent a good 1/2 hour recording the reactions of a NYC donut expert, 23-year-old Kathy YL Chan. Chan is a real estate agent in NYC but she moonlights a dessert writer and blogger for websites like Serious Eats and Midtown Lunch. Her extensive guide on NYC’s best donuts is how I found her.

Today, I want to share the story behind the story with you. It’s all that those funny moments that happen during my research and interviews, things that don’t get into a quick and dirty news piece. It should also be noted that Zachary Abella, the Canadian lawyer now living in Manhattan, had TWICE made the two-hour drive to the Tim Hortons in Connecticut before NYC locations opened. The first time he went after work, thinking it would be a 24 hour Tims. He arrived at 11:14 p.m. and it was closed. The second attempt was made some weeks later on a Saturday afternoon. He bought a box of 20 timbits and a cup of hot chocolate, and a box of Tims coffee beans to bring home.

….

I meet Kathy at the 34th St. and Broadway Tim Hortons location. It’s right across the street from Macy’s and just around the corner from Korea town. It’s always busy in this area. Cars and yellow cabs, pedestrians, shoppers, people taking lunch/cigarette breaks. Timmies has taken up shop, sharing space with a KFC at the back. It’s a grungy kind of store. Not very clean. Just a few seats up front, and a kind of food court style seating at the back. 

The first thing you’ll notice about all the new Timmies in New York are the American flags displayed in the windows and entryways. It’s really important to tell Americans that this is an “all American” company, even though it’s not. The second thing a Canadian will notice is an addition to the Tim Hortons logo. The words: Coffee and Bake Shop. This one makes a lot of sense. How would the average American know that Tim Hortons is a place to buy coffee and baked goods? It’s funny but necessary.

I’m not sure what Kathy looks like, so I have to keep a lookout for her when I get to Tim’s. Surname is “Chan.” Okay, she’s ethnic Chinese. She samples desserts across New York City. Maybe I’m looking for someone who might be on the “heavy” side. 

So I eye the entryway. Chinese. Chubby. Chinese. Chubby. Chinese. Chubby… I start interviewing a woman, Jeanette Rubin, who stumbled into Tim’s looking for her Dunkin’ fix. She says she’s keeping an open mind and buys an iced coffee. I ask her to take a sip and tell me what she thinks. “It doesn’t have the Dunkin’ kick,” she says. And just then, I see a very tall and slim Chinese woman looking around the store. It’s Kathy YL Chan – former Chanel fashion model and pastry chef – and yep, she sure is Chinese but she sure isn‘t chubby.

We try to conduct our taste test inside, but two Tim Hortons PR people are making us nervous. They hover around the table, listening to our interview, and if I step away, one of them starts asking Kathy questions. I’ve been really open about what my story’s all about, yet this same PR rep asks me to tell him “my angle” twice. He makes this request of me with a big grin. *groan* They are polite and they hover, eavesdrop and interfere with a smile, but the conditions have made it impossible for us to have a private, free-flowing conversation. We take the donuts outside.

Out in the open air, everyone can relax.

It has to be said that Kathy has just come from a cinnamon bun tasting. Yet, she tackles the box of 12 donuts with gusto.

She takes one or two bites out of each donut, eyes downcast, chewing slowly, before she gives her verdict.

“Even a mediocre donut when it’s fresh is a lot better than a good donut when it’s old,” she says, noting that all of Tim’s donuts did indeed taste fresh.

In general, Kathy finds Tims donuts heavy, breadier and more cakey. For the coffee, she has to agree with Rubin.

 ”It is lacking the Dunkin’ kick,” she says. “But it doesn’t leave that bitter aftertaste.”

The chocolate dip is a bit of a hazard. It gets stuck on the lid of the donut box and “Look!” Kathy says. “We lose 50% of the chocolate!” For shame. But, Kathy notes, the chocolate is smooth and consistent, and not too sweet. (Personally, it is my fave out of all Timmies donuts)

 

Next, it’s the double chocolate donut. She takes a bite….. and shakes her head disapprovingly. “It doesn’t even taste like chocolate,” she exclaims.

…..

White sugar powder from the raspberry jelly donut leaves a mess on Kathy’s top lip and finger tips, but the jelly does not. “It’s very neat, very consistent,” she says.

….

The apple fritter (a personal favorite as I have a weakness for apples) was seriously disappointing. It was all cinnamon and “no apples!”

…..

She bites into the yeast donut with a generous topping of colorful sprinkles and says: “The sprinkles are unnecessary.”

 

Her favorite donut was the honey cruller, a lightly frosted, twisted yeast doughnut. A good NYC cruller is a “real gem,” she says, explaining the sad state of crullers in the city.

Timmies’ cruller had a “crisp exterior and an eggy, rich dough. Most places either make it too eggy, which results in a wet mess, or too dry. This is a good middle ground,” Chan said.

The end verdict was that Chan wouldn’t eat Timmies donuts if she didn’t have to.

“New York is so accessible,” she said. “Why would I come here if I just rode the subway two blocks to get a really good donut.”

We were finished with the taste test and I had to ask Kathy how she kept her figure. Of course, I should have known. She’s one of those people who DOESN’T exercise, can eat ANYTHING and everything she wants, yet doesn’t gain weight. So. Unfair. But at a recent doctor’s appointment, she was told to watch it — her sugar and cholesteral levels were off the charts. 

 

FINALLY, it was time to part. But what to do with the box of half-eaten donuts?

We decided to leave the box BESIDE a trash can. We didn’t feel right offering these donuts to anyone. But if someone really wanted it, they could take it. Sure enough, seconds after we put the box down, someone ran by and swiped the box. “Are you crazy?” he said to us. “What are you doing throwing away a perfectly good box of donuts?!”  This man, incidentally, was a poet and writer. Times are tough.

Tags: AP, Associated Press, donuts, doughnuts, Kathy Chan, Kathy Y.L. Chan, Suzanne Ma, tim hortons