According toVice President JD Vance, the world's best doughnut is made in Greater Cincinnati.
During a Cincinnati-area visit Aug. 21, Vance stopped at Central Pastry Shop, a downtown Middletown bakery founded in 1949 and owned by Mayor Elizabeth Slamka's family since 1984. Senior clerk Cristaliz Portalatin posted a TikTok videoof the visit that has since drawn more than 44,000 views.
Co-owner Vera Slamka told The Enquirer that Vance, who has visited the bakery since childhood, bought pumpkin doughnuts and 10 of the shop's popular old-fashioned doughnuts, known as "the uglies."
"This is the best doughnut in the world," Vance said in the Aug. 22 video.
Slamka said she wasn't surprised to see Vance, as she was notified the day before that he might
be stopping by. Still, she said she was happy to see the vice president because he is a longtime customer.
"When he was a kid, his grandma used to bring him here and buy whatever he likes," Slamka said. "He has been an absolute wonderful person. He is so friendly and so personal."
Slamka added that customers have been flocking to the 77-year-old bakery for the uglies since Vance's visit.
"I asked my baker to go ahead and make triple and they're still selling them," she said.
But the surge in doughnut sales wasn't the only memorable outcome of Vance's visit.
@cristalizp Got to meet Vice President JD Vance from my hometown. He stopped by our bakery shop where I work at. Not only did we talk with him, he also invited us to ride on the motorcade to go to where he was going to speak at Cleveland Cliff! God is so good. Him and his team were very kind and treated us like VIP ( we were in VIP seats) once in a lifetime opportunity! It was so much fun I have a lot to share so here is a little edit I made of my time yesterday! @The White House @J.D. Vance - #fyp #viral #whitehouse #blessed #donuts
♬ original sound - Cristaliz P
Portalatin said Vance entered the shop around 11:30 a.m. and stayed for about 12 to 15 minutes. While waiting for his order, she told him she hoped to attend his speech at Cleveland-Cliffs. Vance then invited her and two other employees, Jennifer Coby and Ursula Bush, to attend as VIP guests.
The employees attended Vance's speech at the steel plant, where his grandfather worked as a welder for nearly 40 years, and rode in the vice president's motorcade. They also posed for professional photos with Vance after the event.
"We were really excited, and he was so kind. His team were so nice to us. They treated us like VIP," Portalatin said. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Following his 1 p.m. remarks at Cleveland-Cliffs, the Central Pastry Shop employees were escorted back to the shop by the Secret Service. Vance then made his way to Price Hill Chili, where he poured a few beers for supporters.
The Enquirer's Victoria Moorwood contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How JD Vance's doughnut run turned into a VIP experience for 3 workers
