{Bit of Italy, a Strange Donut collaboration with Pastaria}
Somewhere in the St. Louis area, a small storefront is about to get strange. Strange Donuts co-owner Corey Smale confirmed that he and his business partner Jason Bockman are planning to open a second location of their popular Maplewood shop this summer, as first reported by Nancy Stiles of the Riverfront Times – but Smale is not saying where. “Our intent is to not tell anyone until the day it opens,” he said.
Smale did say the 400-square-foot space will have a kitchen and is smaller than the current shop at 2709 Sutton Blvd., which opened just six months ago. Demand for the fried confections, served daily in the mornings and late-night Thursday through Saturday, pushed the owners to seek a second location. “Right now, we are always at capacity, which is such an awesome and humbling thing,” Smale said. “We’re always running out, especially on weekends … If we’re going to do it, let’s double-down right now.”
Since opening, Strange Donuts has collaborated with several St. Louis chefs like Rick Lewis of Quincy Street Bistro, Gerard Craft from the Craft family of restaurants, Qui Tran of Mai Lee to create uniquely flavored doughnuts. “It’s grown so quickly, I haven’t had time to think about how big it is,” he said. “It’s humbling to be welcomed by the community so strongly, especially by people with many more years experience.” Smale also said the Maplewood shop will also receive an exterior facelift with a new blue-toned paint job and outdoors speakers to keep the lines entertained while they wait.
-photo by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in Guide to Beer 2014.