Growing up doesn't mean growing out of your favorite foods. At Blue Star Donuts, they've reinvented your favorite birthday party treat into a tasteful pastry to pair with your morning macchiato. Whether you're a doughnut connoisseur, booze lover, or vegan, Blue Star is sure to please.
Spoon University UCLA had the opportunity to taste-test some donuts and talk to the manager, Phil, at Blue Star's Los Angeles Location. Like any conversation about donuts, it was pretty sweet!
Spoon: How long has Blue Star Donuts been around?
Phil: It's still relatively new. We opened up in Portland, Oregon in December 2012. It blew up there, and we opened here in Venice in 2015.
Spoon: What makes you different from other donut shops?
Phil: Our founders spent a lot of time in Europe, and they were really inspired by French cooking. They have higher priced products and ingredients, but, obviously the end result is that they're getting much better quality. And they were inspired by layouts. As you can see here, our store is kind of set up like a show. You see the glazing going on over here, dough over here. We also use brioche for our donuts, which take quite a bit longer to make. That's why we keep selling out. It takes about 18 hours.
Spoon: What's your favorite part about working here?
Phil: I've worked in hospitality for a while, with food. When I worked in coffee, people would come in cranky and always kind of mad. But here even if some is having a bad day, they come in and are like, "Ooo donuts." It's pretty chill in terms of customer relations.
Spoon: What's your favorite donut flavor?
Phil: Where I come from, donuts generally are filled, so I really like the Meyer Lemon and Key Lime Curd. Everything is made here, even the fillings. I love citrus and stuff, so it's my favorite. I never get bored with it.
Spoon: Could you describe a typical day of what goes on here?
Phil: We have people that come in at 2am to prepare the brioche dough. They cut out donuts, roll them out. Someone begins on the glazing and filling the donuts. The filled donuts get injected. That was pretty crazy the first time I saw it. And then at around 5-6am people are coming in to set up the front of the store.
Spoon: How many donuts do you make in a day?
Phil: We make quite a lot. I want to say about 750 to 1000 on the weekends and maybe a bit less than that on weekdays.
Spoon: Do you usually sell out?
Phil: Yeah, more or less. It looks like we're going to sell out today. Yesterday we balanced it and had just enough to last. A lot of people come in and think they're getting morning-old donuts, but generally we make them throughout the day, so you're still getting fresh ones even later in the evening.
Spoon: What are your most popular flavors?
Phil: Definitely one is the Blueberry Bourbon Basil. One of the founders used to be a bartender, and that was one of the drinks he invented, so he just transferred it into a donut. Needless to say we have a lot booze laying around here. One of our flavors, the Cointreau Creme Brulee, come with a pipette of orange liquor. The old-fashioned donut is also popular, of course.
Spoon: Do you guys have seasonal flavors?
Phil: Yeah, right now we have a brand new one, the Spicy Cucumber. It has cucumber and a lot of real jalapeños, which adds and interesting flavor. We also have a chocolate buttermilk right now with a soy glaze.
Spoon: Anything else you'd like to share with the world?
Phil: Umm I guess that the company is generally aimed at making 'donuts for grownups'. We incorporate a lot of booze and spices in our donuts. Many of them have a culinary twist, which makes the flavors more complex.
At the end of the interview Phil made us up a very generous box of their regular brioche and vegan doughnuts. I'll be honest, we were skeptical of the flavors at first. Why would orange work well with olive oil? But zero exaggeration... these doughnuts were incredible. Out of the regular doughnuts that we tried Key Lime was our favorite. Just as Phil said, it doesn't disappoint. The flavors were complex and perfect. Between the vegan ones, it's a tie between Matcha and Orange Olive Oil. Matcha is rich and packed with green tea flavor, while the orange doughnut is fluffy and tastes like summer.
Guaranteed, these doughnuts will satisfy your refined tastebuds, but more importantly please the kid inside you.