DONNA BELL'S: Our Favorite Bake Shop Has a Hollywood Secret!

We Love Soaps recently caught up with actor, musician and activist Pauley Perrette at Donna Bell's Bake Shop, our vendor of choice for office coffee and treats.

In town for the CBS upfronts, the NCIS star stopped into Donna Bell's to check on her "baby."  Pauley opened the Theater District favorite in April 2011 with her friends Darren Greenblatt and Matthew Sandusky, using recipe's passed along from her mother: southern belle, Donna Bell.

We were only looking for our regular afternoon pick-me-up: an apple turnover, a mixed berry scone, a large coffee and a medium fresh-squeezed OJ. But we ran into Abby Sciuto! Soon, Pauley was sharing her passion for delicious southern treats.

Somehow, the conversation turned to the topics of TV dramas and, you guessed it, soap operas. In her nine seasons on NCIS, had Pauley noticed the gradual increase in ongoing, soap-like personal relationships and interactions between the lead characters?

"People have really grown over time to love these characters. Sometimes there is a more personal arc over a few episodes, but there's always the self-contained story," she observed.

If she had to say, what would be her favorite soap ever?

"Well!" she grinned, "[NCIS co-star] Michael Weatherly was on LOVING, you know!"

In addition to the iconic role of forensics superstar Abby Sciuto in the most-watched scripted series on TV (NCIS can top twenty million viewers an episode) Ms. Perrette is also a recording artist and a marriage equality activist. Interestingly, she's actually a TV industry legend for her extraordinary Q score. According to Entertainment Weekly:

Perennial favorite Tom Hanks’ Q Score is now tied with Morgan Freeman’s and NCIS‘ Pauley Perrette’s — which means even though Perrette is roughly half as well-known as Hanks and Freeman, those who are familiar with her adore her. She’s the only female in the Top 10.

Anyone who visits Donna Bell's Bake Shop is bound to love her even more, if that's even possible. Next time you're in the neighborhood, try the bacon biscuit or the banana pudding.  The shop is located at 301 West 49th Street in Manhattan--right across the street from We Love Soaps headquarters.

Kevin Mulcahy Jr. is a Harvard alum who is currently working as a staff contributor at welovesoaps.com writing theater and web series reviews as well as other in-depth features. Read all his Web Series reviews here. To contact Kevin, email [email protected].