They say Tokyo is the best place in the world for French haute cuisine, and while donuts are not a southern invention, the best donut places are south of the MD line.
I had the craziest red velvet cake doughnut just yesterday, it sounds like a trainwreck but I enjoyed it, lol. Took some getting used to a “cake doughnut” here in the land of Krispy Kreme’s founding. The only one they offered for the longest time was a kruller. More like a Moravian sugarcake shaped like a tractor tire, lol. If you wanted flavors you got jelly or cream filled, or nothing. Loved them, still do. But some of these small local doughnut places springing up are taking it to a whole ‘nother place, and some are pretty nice. Granny’s, Doughnut World, those kinds of places, a couple locations at most.