For the first year and a half of its existence, breakfast at Pizzaiolo was Temescal’s best-kept secret. It seemed like only a few souls ever wandered in to order a Blue Bottle espresso and some toast with Blue Chair Fruit Company jam. The mostly empty dining room, awash in morning light, was the perfect spot to hide out and read the paper before heading to the office. But word has spread, and now the work-at-home crowd arrives before nine to set up their laptops in the roomy booths, and a steady stream of strollers passes through the door all morning. Maybe locals have discovered that the baristas are some of Oakland’s best—but I’m betting the pull comes from the doughnuts, a recent addition to the breakfast lineup from pastry chef Kiri Mah, who rises early to make sure a freshly fried batch of cinnamon-crusted beauties is ready for the crowd. Crisp-edged and properly dense, with a hint of nutmeg, these old-fashioned doughnuts are making mornings in the East Bay a little bit sweeter. 5008 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, 510-652-4888