The Smash-Hit Japanese Donut Shop I’m Donut? Arrives In New York

I’m donut?, one of Japan’s favorite donut shops, opened in New York’s Times Square on April 22.

As the name suggests, it is not a typical donut shop.

The concept is nama or raw donuts, although all products are fully cooked as normal donuts. “Because of their novel, fresh texture, I wondered if they should be called donuts,” says Ryouta Hirako, chef and owner of I’m donut?.

“Donuts were my favorite sweets in my childhood and I wanted to make it something special. After countless trial and error, I tasted this dough—and thought I had just created something very special. Now I got a mission to share it with the world,” he laughs with joy and excitement in his eyes.

In 2022, he opened the first I’m donut? in the hip Nakameguro area in Tokyo. Now there are 4 shops in Tokyo, one in Fukuoka and each location is known for a long line of customers.

Then, what exactly is the difference between his donuts and regular ones?

The texture is exceptionally airy and the moist brioche-based dough melts in your mouth with a quick, ephemeral soda pop-like sensation.

How does he make the unique texture?

“There are no secrets really. The key ingredient is pumpkin,” he says.

When you make a dough with eggs, the cooking heat can harden it due to the protein in eggs. Pumpkin somehow has the property to keep the texture fluffy while maintaining the right moisture in the dough.

But that is not all. There are a number of details that he pays attention to. For instance, Hirako, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, measures the moisture content of flour every day because the day’s weather affects it; he ages the dough at a low temperature for a long time and fries it at a very specific temperature that he established as the best.

In the end, the real secrets seem to be Hirako’s craftsmanship and almost obsessive pursuit of the ideal.

Creating A Little World To Spark Imagination Like Ghibli

At I’m donut?, donuts are handcrafted daily on-site. In New York, 15 flavors of donuts are available, including nine items developed only for the Times Square location.

The signature flavors from Japan include chocolate, matcha and custard; examples of the New York-only flavors are caramel espresso cream, vegan pistachio white chocolate and sake cream, which is made with Junmai sake gelée and chantilly cream filling. There are also savory ones like NY BLT and chicken ginger teriyaki.

The beverage offerings are also worth trying, which include hand-whipped matcha latte and roasty hojicha tea that resembles quality third-wave coffee.

In addition to I’m donut?, Hirako successfully owns and operates multiple concepts of a café, bakeries and even a dried flower shop in Japan. He deeply gets involved in each concept’s design from interior to uniforms.

“I make donuts, breads and other delightful things. Deep underneath them is my aspiration to create a little world that can spark the imagination of people. It’s the world that can make their lives a little fun and exciting, even for a moment,” he says.

“My first business was a tiny pasta shop on the third floor of an apartment building. I kept the door half-open and when the guests arrived, they could hear the music through it and once they entered, there was a cozy room with homey antique furniture—they were already thrilled by the expectation of joy they would experience that night. When people come to my shop, I want them to find the same, comforting little world like, say, a Ghibli movie.”

Hirako believes that the charm of his world is shareable globally and is already planning to open other locations of I’m donut? in Taiwan, Korea and beyond.