‘Healthy Donuts’ on Solano Avenue?

A reliable informant encountered by Patch walking down Solano Avenue volunteered that he was on his way to a place that sells “healthy donuts.”

Patch wasn't slow to obey the mandate of journalistic responsibility, which requires prompt investigation of oxymorons.

The place might be easy to miss, if you happen not to notice the sandwich board next to the sidewalk saying “Local 123” in front of the Flowerland nursery at 1330 Solano Ave. 

Sitting behind a high fence along the sidewalk, and in a corner of the nursery’s outdoor patio, you’ll find an Airstream mobile-home trailer dispensing coffee and pastries. It’s an outpost of the popular Berkeley coffee shop, Local 123.

Inside the trailer when Patch dropped by was coffee bar manager Trevor Szewczyk.

Investigative reporting often begins with softball warm-up questions, so Patch asked how business has been.

“Pretty good, actually,” Szewczyk said. “We got an award from East Bay Express for a café that’s not a café.”

And what about these “healthy donuts”?

“We have vegan donuts,” Szewczyk explained, adopting an apparently noncommital approach to the “healthy” label.

“So maybe your conscience feels better knowing no animals gave their lives,” he added.

Patch’s conscience could not rest easy without putting the claim to test on a $2.50 organic coconut chocolate donut, made by Pepple's Donut Farm.

The Local 123 outpost on Solano is open Mon.-Thurs. from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Fri.-Sun. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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