Pam is getting excited about our vacation to the States. This means she is planning her eating itinerary. She doesn’t care where we go as long as she can eat a pound of bacon a day; have country ham at least once; have green beans flavored with country ham at least twice; eat Mexican food, ideally fajitas or carne asada with a tart frozen margarita (or two); throw in some of her husband’s homemade pizza; some fresh fruit and some homemade ice cream and she is set. This running list prompted her to ask me, “What is your favorite food?”
My dietary needs are far simpler. When in the States I go for pie. Ideally fresh fruit pies. Ideally with hot coffee. I am flexible on the slightly warm and with or without ice cream issues. I won’t turn down ribs, Mexican or wings. And to round out my diet there is always doughnuts. And when I say doughnut I mean Krispy Kreme. I am not some fad chaser when I say this. I believe very firmly that some of the most important lessons in our life are learned while we are in kindergarten. And, the pivotal moment of my kindergarten life was a trip to the local Krispy Kreme shop where we got a tour of the magical machines that punch out the light airy bits of goodness before rolling them through the waterfall of glaze…it may not be the tallest or more secluded waterfall, but is there another waterfall that elicits more dreams and fantasies? I think not.
Krispy Kreme, if you do your research, began discussing opening doughnut shops in Asia in the 80’s. While Asia as a whole is a unique market, one must consider the vast cultural and food differences amongst its individual members. I am always fascinated which restaurants translate and which ones do not. You don’t have to spend a lot of time in Japan to realize that Burger King and their “have it your way” mentality is the antithesis to the Japanese food industry mindset. McDonald’s just works. OK, yes they have added a teriyaki burger with egg and a fried version of a shrimp po’ boy to their menu; but the base items still sale. Mr. Donut has been in Japan for decades. But they have done it by realizing that the mid afternoon and evening dessert crowd is bigger than the morning crowd; that macha (green tea) and nori (seaweed) flavored donuts are a necessity; that a tofu based donut that you dip in maple syrup would be more popular than a French crueler; that a full lunch menu including steamed bread with a meat stuffing, and phyllo dough with undercooked eggs are a necessity.
On the other hand, have some high end mochi (special sweet glutinous rice globs) or taste some patisserie samplings and you realize that the super sweet, super light Krispy Kreme doughnuts would be a perfect fit for the Japanese sweet tooth and palate.
Finally, about six months ago, Krispy Kreme got their act together and opened a store in the South Terrace district of Shinjuku. If you are looking for the here and the now and want to see where all the pretty people hang out, then Shinjuku is the place to be. Since we are not here or now and one third of us doesn’t count as pretty (me) we rarely go over to Shinjuku. But there are those things in life that make you ask, “What is it worth?” Is it worth going over to Shinjuku to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts? OH YEAH!
Our first attempt to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts was not very well thought out. It was a Saturday afternoon and the middle of Golden Week. You don’t want to go anywhere during Golden Week; well other than out of the country. I suppose it was shocking in retrospect that the wait was just under three hours that afternoon. Are Krispy Kreme doughnuts worth a three hour wait? WAIT. Just fell off my chair laughing and had to crawl back up. UHHHH…. NO! I mean I used to pull out of the Krispy Kreme drive through line if I thought I was going to have to wait more than five minutes!
Our second attempt to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts had a plan. Krispy Kreme opens at 730 every morning. This is unbelievably early for Japan. The Starbucks across the street from Pam’s office (which is in a major office district) doesn’t open till 800. The Mr. Doughnut about three hundred meters from our house opens at 800, but don’t expect there to be more than three types of doughnuts ready by then. We live within walking distance of ten coffee shops/cafes. Only two open before 11 am. So our plan was to go first thing on a Saturday morning. We left the house at 8. Got there are 830. Wait time: one hour and fifty minutes. Are Krispy Kreme doughnuts worth a two hour wait on a hot muggy Saturday morning with a six year old that hasn’t eaten anything? NO!
The doughnut craving was continuing to grow. And the fact that I had nothing else to write about today led me to hop on the train this morning with Sachan. I continued on the train, three stops past her school to Shinjuku Station. I took the South Terrace exit; I walked the roughly two blocks to the Krispy Kreme store, joining the line at 745. The sign said: Wait time 50 minutes. What’s a boy to do? I need some doughnuts and you need something to read.
I breathed deeply and became intoxicated by the smell of fresh hot doughnuts, and settled in, moving through the Disneyland like snaking path to doughnut nirvana. I was interrupted three times. The first was when the young happy Krispy Kreme employee handed me the menu. Aside from the special seasonal fruit filled offering (this month its pineapple) the doughnut offerings looked the same. The much talked about ‘half glazed’ doughnut that is apparently popular in the rest of Asia was not on the menu. Wisely they were sticking with their forte, only doughnuts, no steamed bread or undercooked eggs. A dozen original glazed was a mandatory purchase. The question is how many other dozens would accompany it.
The second interruption came when the same, now even happier Krispy Kreme employee came out with a tray of fresh hot glazed. By this time I was in sight of the little freshly glazed doughnuts rolling by the window. There really is nothing like a fresh hot Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut: the sweetness, the perfect golden tan, the airiness, the light texture, the aroma, the way it feels on your teeth and tongue, and the taste, oh sweet heaven the taste!
I didn’t think it could get any better, and then just as the sugar buzz was kicking in and a craving for coffee was setting in, out came happy Krispy Kreme employee again. This time she was pointing out that if you only wanted to buy the glazed or pre-assorted by the dozen, you could get into a special express line. Hello, sign me up! Happy Krispy Kreme employee raised her hand getting the attention of the guard, who escorted me through the door and into the express line, where two of the five registers were devoted to the sale of dozen filled boxes. Behind these registers were other happy Krispy Kreme employees, first displaying your dozen selections by opening and carefully closing each box, handling them like fine china as they bagged them.
I walked out the door with two dozen original glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts at 815. Was that worth the half hour wait? OH YEAH! Of course this is Tokyo. We aren’t the most expensive city in the world any more; we now fall behind Moscow, London and Seoul. I highly recommend you continue to get your Krispy Kreme fix in the states, because two dozen doughnuts here will set you back about thirty dollars. Are Krispy Kreme doughnuts really worth that? Wait…mouth is full…hands are sticky…hold on a bit more…savoring….still savoring…need to chase that last one with some coffee…sugar-caffeine buzz hitting in 5-4-3-2- OH YEAH! So worth it! AHHHHhhhhhhhh, so worth it.
I am still wondering what took Krispy Kreme so long. Six months after opening and they still need a guard to handle the crowds at 730 am every morning? Six months with folks walking out every minute with 2-12 boxes of dozens of doughnuts every minute. Two and three hour waits as a rule all day every day. Clearly Krispy Kreme didn’t properly consider what it was worth.
Written July 13, 2007