Union Square Donuts x The Sinclair Kitchen: Dueling Donuts Brunch

We've discussed the fact that I'm not a morning person. In relation, I'm also not a brunch person. I just don't see the appeal. Breakfast and lunch are two entities that are perfectly fine seperately in my opinion, I don't understand why they had to be married together. I for one am comfortable enough with myself to drink beverages of the alcoholic variety with breakfast if I really want to. I digress (I could go on forever about my dislike for the institution of brunch otherwise); after all, I did make an exception over the weekend.

On Saturday, The Sinclair Kitchen hosted Dueling Donuts, a brunch focusing on gourmet doughnuts and cocktails to match. The competitors? Current regional cult favourite, Union Square Donuts versus the masterminds behind The Sinclair Kitchen. When I first heard of this, I just couldn't resist*! I called up a friend that I knew would be all over this with me and we made a reservation. What could be better than a brunch revolving around doughnuts and cocktails? Being sat outside on a rooftop deck on possibly the last beautiful day of summer.

In Round One, we were presented with a smoked miso caramel doughnut covered with crushed pretzels and cocoa nibs from The Sinclair and a brown butter hazelnut crunch dougnut from Union Square Donuts. My favourite of the two was definitely The Sinclair's savory and sweet entrant. I, for one, did not appreciate that Union Square Donuts just sent out one of their staple doughnuts, not something they came up with for the occasion. The cocktail pairing was named Buck Turbo and was comprised of Barismo cold brew coffee, Overholdt rye whiskey, and Montenegro whipped cream. While I am a coffee obsessive, whiskey is not my thing at all. I gave this drink a sip but just couldn't stomach it, so I opted to pair my doughnuts with Bailey's on the rocks. 

Round Two definitely had a tropical theme going on. The Sinclair sent out a five-spice cake doughnut covered in a milk glaze and sprinkled with Fruity Pebbles cereal. Union Square Donuts presented a custom item entitled the Hannalei Bay, enrobed in a strawberry glaze with coconut and lime. The accompanying drink was named The Fez, made up of Goslings rum, Cava, tiki bitters, and allspice. I think I preferred the Hanalei Bay dougnut; that strawberry glaze is ridiculous, I just want it on everything. 

If I'm being honest, I walked out of there noticeably jittery. It was basically two plates of sugar bombs in one sitting. I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless though and if the opportunity ever arises again, I will probably go for it. While there were ballots to vote for which doughnuts liked better, I never heard who won. In my opinion though, everyone's a winner if doughnuts are what's for breakfast. 

*As a side note, as you can imagine, none of these were gluten-free. I have a sensitivity, not a life threatening allergy so I do occasionally binge indulge in a little bit of gluten.