• Roy Donk (legal name: Jacob Komarow) is the founder of Good Baklava, a New York-based Turkish baklava company

• He adopted the pseudonym "Roy Donk" from a character in Tim Robinson's "I Think You Should Leave"

• Good Baklava uses Gaziantep pistachios and traditional techniques; Donk distributes it on foot across the city and at events

• The Knicks won the NBA championship in the 2025-26 season; The New York Times profiled Donk on June 2 in a piece titled "Who is the Baklava Guy at the Knicks games?"

Some businesses grow through marketing strategies. Roy Donk grew Good Baklava by walking. The man known to New York as The Baklava Guy built his company from a folding table and a cooler, selling fresh Turkish baklava at parks, beaches, and music festivals before the Knicks' championship run turned him into something the city did not expect: a confection with a storyline.

Donk, who goes by a pseudonym borrowed from a character in Tim Robinson's "I Think You Should Leave," was born in New Jersey and spent years in professional kitchens and on the road following Phish before a period at an addiction treatment center redirected him. Sobriety and baklava arrived together. His legal name is Jacob Komarow. He sells under Roy Donk. The distinction matters to him.

Good Baklava's product is fresh. That is not a small distinction. Most Turkish baklava available in the United States arrives frozen, imported, or both. Donk makes his with Gaziantep pistachios, the gold standard for Turkish baklava, using traditional techniques. The freshness is the differentiator, and it is the reason a single encounter outside Madison Square Garden tends to produce a repeat customer.

The business has grown beyond the folding table to include nationwide shipping, wholesale partnerships, corporate gifting accounts, and live event experiences. But Donk remains the face of it in a literal sense: he is frequently the person handing the baklava over.

During the 2025-26 season's Eastern Conference Finals, Donk began distributing free baklava outside Madison Square Garden. The calculus was direct: no major marketing budget, so put the product in front of thousands of people in the emotional peak of a playoff run. It worked. The Knicks won the championship. Donk was at the parade. New York media covered the story across multiple outlets. The New York Times published a profile on June 2 titled "Who is the Baklava Guy at the Knicks games?" The article is paywalled, but the coverage reflects the weight the city gave this one.

A subsequent partnership with Shah's Halal Food put Good Baklava at all six of Shah's New York City locations on game days, expanding the reach without requiring Donk to carry a cooler any further.

The baklava did not make the Knicks win. But in a city that adopts its characters with the same intensity it applies to its teams, Roy Donk arrived at exactly the right moment. The product is good enough to sustain what the championship created.

Good Baklava ships nationally at goodbaklava.com.