Whoo's Donuts in Santa Fe
Noticed this place while I was driving down Cerillos, so glad I went in -- beautiful, delicious, fresh donuts. My favorite was the dulce de leche - soft & sweet.... wish I had one now! If you're looking for creative donuts along the lines of Doughnut Plant in NYC, stop in here!!!
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finlero
Aug 20, 2012 09:24 AM
I tend to think Whoo's falls somewhere in between "best ever" and "totally unremarkable".
I think the textures of both the raised and the cake are pretty good, but not quite out-of-this-world amazing. The raised, in particular, is missing that slight crunch on the outside and is ever so slightly tough inside. Which is not to say it's bad -- again I think it's really pretty good, just not perfect.
As far as flavors, I find them to be somewhat hit or miss. The orange cardamom cream with apricot glaze is about as much of a home run as I could ask for, I succumb to temptation every couple of weeks. I find the white chocolate pistachio to be a little too sweet without a deeper foundation of flavor. And the s'mores is fun but it's just too much. In the blueberry-filled cherry thing, personally I don't like the seeds in the jam, finding them to have a bit of a graininess I don't care for.
Since Whoo's is now selling their donuts at a number of other local places, I'll add that you can pick them up at La Montanita Coop, which just so happens to be next door to Betterday Coffeehouse, which serves up some of the best coffee in the state.
[As an aside -- hi Joanie! Hope you're continuing to find all manner of deliciousness out in New England.]
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re: finlero
Joanie
Aug 21, 2012 05:27 AM
Hey Finlero, eating all over New England (and parts of the world) but gave up on the Boston board a couple years ago (tho I certainly haven't given up on eating out). Good to see a familiar name here. BTW, we're planning on 3 nites in Santa Fe and 1 in ABQ unless someone tells me to do 2 and 2 (this is after a couple in PHX, 2 in Flag and one on the drive in between). Open to suggestions for all but will most likely go back to FnB and Cowboy Ciao in PHX one nite.
I have to say, those donut flavors kind of freak me out. And this from the girl who loves a ginger cilantro margarita. I like my donuts more basic tho. We'll see how they stack up.
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re: Joanie
uhockey
Aug 21, 2012 05:42 AM
Consider Citizen Public House over Cowboy Ciao. Just moved to Phx in July and found both the food and setter better, with cocktails being the focus of the former and wine the later.
If you've not been to Kai, go, and keep in mind that Bianco now has a sit-down restaurant as well.
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re: Joanie
finlero
Aug 21, 2012 08:23 AM
I think your ABQ/SF 1-3 titration is probably right. ABQ is extraordinary for value, but I guess I'd argue that unless you have a specific hankering for Vietnamese, there aren't a lot of dinner places that would be competitive in the national arena. The best NM places in ABQ close by 6 or 7 (and often much earlier), and most are dry.
FWIW I tend to think Santa Fe is a little overrated as a chow town, resting on its upscale Southwestern laurels from the 80s, but there are nonetheless a few real standouts at all price ranges, which is exactly the sort of situation that makes CH useful. My advice would be to get your Southwestern fix at the low-to-mid end and save the splurges for other genres. But obviously that's just one hound's $0.02.
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re: finlero
uhockey
Aug 21, 2012 05:44 AM
I'd tend to agree. They are really good, but not upper eschelon like some of the spots in Chicago, San Fran, New York, or Louisville that I've been.
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We stopped at Whoo's on Thursday after we read about them here. We were disappointed. I bought a dozen and half of them are still in the box and will probably get thrown away. The flavors were enticing and they looked delicious, but the taste did not live up to our expectations. They weren't soft or tasty, just ordinary.
For the record, our favorite doughnuts are at the Holmesburg Bakery in Philadelphia.
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Joanie
Aug 16, 2012 05:21 AM
I'm not big on unusual flavors, how do they do the basics like an old fashioned plain cake donut? Maybe with maple glaze or at least chocolate? I'll be in Santa Fe in 2 months and have added this to the list. As an aside, I actually wasn't wowed by Doughnut Plant and much prefer Peter Pan in Brooklyn. My all time favorites are Allie's in N. Kingstown RI and Top Pot in Seattle. Thanks.
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re: Joanie
uhockey
Aug 16, 2012 06:33 AM
I liked everything I tried - and I too don't like Doughnut Plant - in NYC Dough, Pies n' Thighs, and DunWell all make better doughnuts and Top Pot is damned good too!
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uhockey
Jul 12, 2012 07:36 PM
imo, they were better than Doughnut Plant in terms of texture, taste, and most of all price.
They still don't rival Dun-Well in New York or Dougnut Vault in Chicago, but I'd place them in my top 5 without a doubt.
Pictured below are:
Smores
White Chocolate Pistachio
Berry Vanilla
Cherry Coconut
Plain Glazed
Maple Bacon Bar
Blueberry Filled with Cherry Glaze
Chocolate Peanut
Chocolate Ganache
Boston Cream
Toffee Chip
Brown Butter Bar
And for a dozen they cut you a serious deal - $19+tax.
›4 Replies
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re: coastalgypsy
uhockey
Jul 13, 2012 09:05 AM
The Blueberry filled and White Chocolate Pistachio were standouts to me, though I really liked all but the Cherry Coconut (not a big coconut guy - my mom loved it.) We were just passing through in a cross country trip from Ohio to Arizona and I had heard about Whoos from a friend.
What impressed me most was that both the raised/yeasted and cake donuts were equally impressive - something most bakeries can't pull off.
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re: uhockey
Great doughnuts and creative flavors (blue corn/chile/strawberry glaze and orange cardamom creme were excellent) but goodness a bit over the top. One WHOO's is probably 3-4 "ordinary" donuts worth of sugar and creme -- too much for my taste, but perhaps the solution to the quantity problem is to share one and eat with a fork (which allows smaller bites without losing half down one's shirt).
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