Sam's on a Saturday morning
IT'S JUST AFTER 6 a.m., and a thin fog blankets Walker. Much of the city still sleeps, but on Florida Boulevard, a bit down from Walker South Road, a neon sign declares Sam's Donuts "OPEN." Step inside, and the enclosed glass counter beckons. Doughnuts still so hot the glaze runs off onto the tray beneath them. Chocolate long-johns. Cream-filled. Bear claws. Cinnamon rolls. Sprinkles. And in the refrigerator, ice-cold milk. One of the ladies offers to take your order. From the back, a voice booms: "Gooood morning!" In a crisp white apron, covered from fingers to toes in a thin white coating of flour, Sam Yucesoy - who opened this shop a decade ago - is making more. The dough comes from an oversized mixing bowl, to the counter where he cuts it, lets it rise and rolls it out, using another roller to cut doughnuts. These capital Os he sticks in a warmer to rise before dropping them in the hot grease. Then into the glaze they go; some of them vanilla; others, chocolate. As quickly as they are born, they meet their destiny in the glass case. But alas, not for long. One of the ladies is filling up a bag with hot doughnut holes for two little boys. "Always make sure you put more than a dozen," another one tells her. "Too many is just fine; but never too few."
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