a taste of fall

3 Houston restaurants frying up New England's favorite fall treat

A classic East Coast treat is having a moment in Houston. Cider doughnuts, the New England fall favorite, have popped up on the menu of three local establishments.

Light, crispy, and with a subtle apple flavor, the doughnuts can be found at Rosie Cannonball, Adair Kitchen, and City Orchard, the cidery in Sawyer Yards.

Rosie Cannonball features its cider doughnut holes at The Chalet, its fall/winter update to the Spritz Patio. Executive pastry chef Shawn Gawle channeled his East Coast roots to create the treat.

“Growing up in New England, fall meant going apple picking at the orchards,” he says. “Almost every apple orchard would make their own cider and cider doughnuts, often right in front of you. The smell of them just reminds me of home.”

In that spirit, Gawle uses Martinelli’s apple cider for his recipe. “It’s 4th generation family-owned. And it’s just good!,” he adds.

For its take, City Orchard partnered with Heights doughnut shop Hugs & Donuts. The recipe uses the cidery’s Young Cider, which uses apple juice that’s only been fermenting for a week. They’re available every Saturday and Sunday through the end of November as part of the cidery’s harvest festival (or at Hugs & Donuts everyday its open).

“Like the Viennese tradition of Stürm wine (stormy wine) - young cider is still working its way to a grown-up cider,” City Orchard stated in a release. “It's still sweet, very appley, and light on alcohol.”

Adair Kitchen co-owner Katie Adair Barnhart tells CultureMap she sees the doughnuts as an alternative to all the pumpkin goods circulating during the fall. The secret, she says, is to reduce the cider prior to adding it to the batter — dusting them with a little cinnamon sugar helps, too.

“The donuts are a little bit of a joke with our team,” Barnhart explains in an email. “Kate Stukenberg, or guru on all things on trendy, was really aware of the East Coast trend and really went to bat to get them on the Adair Kitchen menu . . . She was right and they have sold really well!’

City Orchard partnered with Hugs & Donuts.

Courtesy of City Orchard

City Orchard partnered with Hugs & Donuts.

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the more things change

Houston's essential Jewish diner looks better than ever after refresh

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

It’s tricky to renovate a restaurant that’s as essential to its community as New York Deli. A staple of Houston’s Jewish community for almost 50 years, the tiny restaurant near Meyerland will serve as many as 400 people during a busy Sunday brunch.

Still, the time had come, as the tape on the deteriorating banquettes and peeling wallpaper illustrated. With the restaurant’s lease up for renewal, co-owner Michael Saghian saw an opportunity for some updates.

“I couldn’t be the new guy who ruined the place by moving it,” he tells CultureMap. “We worked out a deal with the landlord [to stay] and did a big refresh.”

The most noticeable change is the removal of the restaurant’s front door and vestibule. Instead, diners enter through the restaurant’s companion bagel shop. Separate entrances made sense when the bagel shop was certified kosher by local religious authorities, but now that designation only applies to the Bellaire location that opened in 2020. Not only is the new setup easier for people with mobility issues to navigate, it allows more light into the dining room, brightening the place considerably..

Saghian and co-owner Riana Sherman worked with interior designer Erin Hicks on the refresh. Tables, chairs, and banquettes are all new, but the color scheme remains the same. The process yielded 10 more seats, and the furniture is a little more durable, too.

“People have flipped chairs because they’re so lightweight,” Sherman says. “We got a sturdier chair.”

Behind the scenes, an expanded kitchen allows for the restaurant’s cooks to work faster and more efficiently. An additional egg cooker should cut down the amount of time people wait for their food to arrive.

“The kitchen had one of everything. Now we have two of everything. We can pump out a lot more food,” Saghian says.

Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers such as the “bagel girls,” a group of woman who’ve eaten breakfast at the restaurant since the ‘80s. A piece of old wallpaper has been framed and hung on the wall, too, as a nod to the space’s history.

New York Deli interior changes Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers.Photo by Sergio Trevino

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

Saghian says he suffered from sleepless nights as he worried about people’s reactions to the changes, but so far his customers have been effusive.

“It still feels like an old school diner,” Saghian says. “It has pieces you remember. Even the new stuff is old school.”

While the physical environment is new, the staff remains the same. To ensure he kept the same team of cooks and servers, Saghian paid their wages for the two weeks the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Even more importantly, the prices are the same. That’s something that will make even the oldest regulars happy.

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