If You Wanted Your Morning Coffee, He Was Here

Thanks to local employee John Mitro, the Dunkin Donuts at 558 Allen Road was open Sunday morning by about 6 a.m., with the then-hurricane (since downgraded to a tropical storm) delaying the shop's regular opening by about an hour.

The store's owner and other staff followed within the next hour. Mitro said he lives fairly nearby the Dunkin Donuts in the Highland Village Center at the top of The Hills.

By about 9:30 a.m., the store was packed with people getting their morning coffee. Some were talking about the impact of the storm on their shore houses. Another woman said power was out in her home in nearby Far Hills.

Donuts were going faster than, well, hotcakes...Mitro came out with a fresh tray of pink-topped donuts shortly before 10 a.m.

People also were talking about how newspaper bundles to a nearby store were left out in the rain. One man toting a New York Times said his paper had been delivered on Sunday morning.

Starbucks and other Dunkin Donuts in Basking Ridge and surrounding communities did not answer their phones when contacted.