Doughnuts at Peter Pan and variable pricing
The 2011 NBA playoffs are going to start soon and I kind of want to root for the teams that aren't stacked with super stars. Or just root for teams that have an aging super star, because those teams probably won't win. The notion of "old school" seems to have a great appeal in the age of social media. Old things are definitely the best. Remember the days before Facebook chat? Remember the days when you just showed up at your friends house without making sure they're there? Old school in basketball seems to mean that there was less 1-on1 and more team play. This day in age, the NBA is bombarded with teams that stacked their top talents, like Lebron who took his talents to South Beach. Or even the Knicks, who traded seemingly the whole team to Denver for Carmelo. Now the Denver team is doing pretty well and they don't have a super star, so I will be cheering for them and the Portland Trailblazers. In food the old school thing still appeals as well. Ligaya Mishan visited Nom Wah Tea Parlor for the NYTimes. Don't get more old school than that. Even one of my favorite foods, the donut can come in an old school form. Just look at Peter Pan Donuts. They don't even have a website. The doughnuts here are some of the best in NY and they are only one dollar. That's one third the price of some places in Manhattan!
Now I don't know about having an old donut place put the word, 'patisserie' on the awning, but I'll overlook that. Maybe for some odd reason they thought putting a French word on a doughnut diner would somehow validate their existence. As for being old school, you see it right away when you walk into the joint. The woman behind the counter dresses in some 1960's outfit and the rest of the diner looks like it came out of an old movie set. Does Peter Pan need to use some fancy word to stay relevant in current times? No worries yo, the coconut creme donut is enough to validate this place. Peter Pan probably has one of the best coconut creme doughnuts in the entire city. Yes, even as good as the ones at The Doughnut Plant. For one third of the price, I think Peter Pan might edge Doughnut Plant a little. Sure, Green Point (Brooklyn) is a little out of the way, but on the weekdays it's not so bad.
If you get the jelly donut, you wouldn't be disappointed either. I would say it's a decent donut, although not the best. The jelly was more reminiscent of jelly than one from Dukin Donuts. But just getting it from a donut diner makes it worth it.
Earlier this week I mentioned price discrimination and today in the Dining Section, NYTimes talked about how some restaurants like and some don't like the whole Groupon phenomenon. I still say the Planet Money coverage was way better because they actually talked to some economists. But I can't blame Glenn Collins for focusing on people in the restaurant industry.
It's puzzling to me that restaurants don't offer variable pricing in the model of congestion pricing. The idea would be simple and it only would apply to restaurants that need help on slow weekdays. Best of the best places like Momofuku or super high-end places simply don't need to do that. But this is more for the middle tier that have good food but some how can't attract clients on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. What to do? Make your shit cheaper on those nights. If you're awesome enough, you're not going to lose customers from Friday night to a Tuesday night just because you offer discounts on a Tuesday night. Restaurants have every incentive to do this on their own instead of through a discount site. It's cheaper to do it without a discount site and you can reach a lot of clients using social media now. It's the new school way of doing things. For example, a restaurant could easily advertise on twitter like, "First 5 to DM gets 25% off of a dinner reservation on a Tuesday night."
Soon enough we'll see Google get into the coupon game and Facebook too. It's probably a fad that's here to say. It's a welcoming site to see price discrimination at play. It's the old school going new school. Restaurants should learn to get with it too. Or they can stay old and get an awning that says patisserie on it. That works too.
Peter Pan Bakery
727 Manhattan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-389-3676
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I don't think those coupons sites will be around for a really long time. Short term, yes. But 10 years from now? Nope. Just like Facebook. I think once people find something more interesting, they'll move on. People have very short attention spans. I mean, look at MySpace. What's that anymore? And don't forget about LiveJournal, Xanga, etc.
hungry
April 13, 2011 2:32 pm
@Hungry,
That's an interesting take on it. We could look at the search engine industry though. Excite, Alta Vista, and Lycos are all gone, but google is here to stay. Maybe myspace just sucked. The idea that we want to socialize digitally is one that's going to be here to stay. Not to mention, companies like google buy up little companies all the time without getting too much press. The little companies with big ideas get swallowed up. There isn't going to be a newer thing on the social networking front, because I think facebook would just buy their ass. Who knows, only time will tell!
Danny
April 13, 2011 2:41 pm
I'm glad there's another food blogger geeking out of price discrimination! Planet Money's coverage was great, and the new podcast on drug dealing is even better.
I think the thing that makes Peter Pan so great is that they've transcended the old school and joined the ranks of classic. It's like In-N-Out or a great French baguette: some things are just so iconic in the way they're made, served and universally enjoyed that they are built to last (or die hard and be long remembered). In 30 years, when fancy doughnuts will have been effectively replaced by any number of pastries or desserts, all of them belonging to a newer "new school." Peter Pan's classic American doughnuts will still be a fixture in my mind because they represent an edible tradition.
Sorry to rub my Peter Pan hard on all over your comments page, but god damn, do I love that place.
James Boo
April 13, 2011 7:38 pm
@James,
Word, this place is tradition. There's no way that newer fancier pastries would ever replace the donut. That cupcake thing is a once in a lifetime thing. I don't think we'll see something else that both tugs at people's heartstrings and rubs their bellies the right way. Donuts forever!
Danny
April 15, 2011 12:23 pm