{From left, Strange Donut co-owner Corey Smale, corporate chef Mary Boehne and co-owner Jason Bockman}
As Strange Donuts prepares to blow out the candles on its first birthday done, owners Corey Smale and Jason Bockman announced the coming of its third St. Louis location in the next few months. Strange Trap Kitchen, a pop-up kitchen concept, will open inside Brennan’s at 4659 Maryland Plaza in the Central West End, as reported by Liz Miller of Feast. The announcement comes just a few weeks before Smale and Bockman open their sophomore Kirkwood location on Oct. 22 and just days after the news that another Strange Donuts location will share storefront space with Seoul Taco in Columbia, Missouri.
Strange Trap Kitchen will feature doughnuts with new ingredients and “elevated flavors,” the handiwork of Strange Donuts corporate chef Mary Boehne, Smale said, as well as the possibility of hot chocolate, juices and Kaldi’s coffee. The CWE address aims to capture a morning commuter crowd with early hours of 7 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. The new shop gets its name from trap music, a subgenre of hip-hop.
Smale sees Strange Donuts’ rapid expansion – four locations, dozens of events and catering clients like the St. Louis Rams organization – as the mark of a great team. “We’re not intimidated because we know we got the right people to do this,” he said. “When you think to yourself, ‘What would I do without them?’ that’s when you know you have a great staff.”
-photo by Adrian O. Walker
This article appears in October 2014.