NYC’s I’m donut ? Puts Signature Flair on Show

Just off New York City’s Times Square, across from the Lyceum Theatre and down the street from the Museum of Broadway, Japanese doughnuts have become part of the show. Pastry “performances” can be found daily at I’m donut ? (the name styled just so), located at 154 West 45th St.

I’m donut ? sets itself apart with its airy, creative, handcrafted doughnuts ($4 to $13 apiece), a unique, open display kitchen and Zen rock garden-inspired interior. New Yorkers and tourists alike line up for a chance to taste the unusual pastries.

In NYC, pistachio white chocolate is one signature doughnut flavor.

I’m donut ? first launched in Tokyo in 2022. Founding chef Ryouta Hirako is widely recognized in Japan for multiple creative concepts that draw long lines and sell out daily. Hirako’s knack for pastry innovation, especially his ultralight, super-tender doughnuts, led to I’m donut ?’s success.

When the opportunity to open I’m donut ? in Manhattan arose, Hirako guided his team in creating a store that applied Broadway stagecraft to doughnut production, along with Japanese aesthetics to the store’s look and feel.

“The amphitheater-style kitchen layout was chef Hirako’s vision from Day 1,” says Ryan Mikita, principal at Ricca Design Studios, the consulting firm tasked with converting Japanese kitchen plans for the brand’s first U.S. location.

Mike Carlton, managing principal of Carlton Architecture, agrees. “This job was unique in that it started with the photorealistic image of what the chef wanted, both front- and back-of-house, created by his team in Tokyo,” Carlton adds. “Figuring out how to make that a reality became our job.”

The brand currently numbers 14 locations worldwide. As of January, its tally includes 11 stores in Japan, the global flagship in New York City that opened in April 2025, followed by stores in Seoul and Taipei. The brand’s unconventional name, with its lowercase “d” and floating punctuation, aims to question “our perception of what a donut can be,” according to the company’s press release.

I’m donut ?’s three-tiered kitchen, separated by dark pink guardrails, brings theater to the art of pastry production.

Peaceful and Calm

The shop’s front-of-house design reflects Hirako’s commitment to Japanese wabi-sabi: minimalism with an accent on natural materials. Anchoring (literally) the store’s queuing area sits a granite boulder (more on this in a bit) formed into a communal standing table. The two service counters feature granite-clad exteriors. Overhead, translucent white panels intersected by exposed wooden beams mimic traditional shoji screens. Pink accents—found in the translucent strawberry color-tinted glass panels serving as guardrails between the kitchen levels, and in the disposable gloves used by employees—add a colorful touch to the kitchen.

Behind the tea counter, in full view of guests, the three-tiered open kitchen transforms pastry-making into a live performance. Vertical zoning allows each stage of production—mixing, proofing, frying and finishing—to occupy its own spot in the amphitheater. Equipment placement allows guests to visually follow the doughnut process from start to end.

Equipment Translation

Ricca came on board in 2022 and set to work on adapting the Japanese kitchen designs and equipment requirements for use by architects and installers. Plans were ready by the fall of 2023, construction began in early 2024 and I’m donut ? opened for business the following year.

“Chef Hirako’s team gave us a full equipment list of what they would use in their Tokyo shops,” Mikita recalls. “Our role lay in identifying which U.S.-based manufacturers would be appropriate for this project. We would make recommendations for the brands that we thought would work best, then chef Hirako’s team would do their own research, make a decision and then provide it back to us.”

However, several of the preferred Japanese units—including the dough divider and proofer—lacked the UL and NSF certifications required for U.S. use.

The dough divider proved especially challenging. “Chef Hirako really wanted a specific model made in Japan,” Mikita says. “We had one shipped over and worked with the U.S. division of that supplier, which had to update the circuitry in order to get its UL approval.”

The proofer presented a different hurdle. “Chef Hirako needed the proofers to provide a certain amount of humidity,” Mikita says.

To pinpoint the right U.S. model, the team rented a manufacturer’s New Jersey test kitchen for two days. “Hirako’s team brought along 100 gallons of water from Manhattan, plus an equivalent amount of ice made from Manhattan water, to test different combinations of dough proofing and production. The taste differences in the doughnuts were subtle, but you could definitely taste the variations.”

One final challenge lay in fitting the three tiers—and the ramp system linking them—into the narrow footprint. The two ramps measure roughly 3½ feet wide by 20 feet deep each, with each tier rising 20 inches above the one below it. To streamline movement between levels, crews built pairs of bun pan racks into the railings on the top and middle tiers, creating a step-saving pass off point as product moves through the process.

Hirako’s (right) knack for pastry innovation has led to I’m donut ?’s success.

Setting the Stage

The doughnut show starts at the top, back level, about 350 square feet in size. Here, employees create dough, icings and other toppings using mixers, a convection oven, a stockpot range and a hood. At the back wall, a set of stairs leads down to the basement, which houses the walk-in cooler, a freezer and ice maker.

The middle level, also 350 square feet, houses the dough sheeter used to form individual doughnuts. Warewashing is tucked behind a wall on this level. “It’s conveniently located to receive used pots and pans from both the top and lower levels,” Mikita says.

The ground level, or main stage, covers about 1,000 square feet. This level accommodates the remaining production and service functions, including two dedicated doughnut fryers with the capacity of turning out more than 4,000 doughnuts a day, a large work table for decorating, a freezer/proofer, and undercounter refrigerators and freezers. On the two granite-clad counters sit matcha-making supplies, the daily doughnut display and POS stations. An enclosed room directly behind the fryers serves as a walk-in dehumidifying chamber.

The two doughnut fryers can turn out more than 4,000 pieces daily.

Meanwhile, in the front-of-house, securing Hirako’s signature stone elements became a project of its own. After an early proposal to create faux rock forms in concrete was rejected, Carlton began scouting quarries across the tristate area.

“The folks at Champlain Stone must have thought I was crazy when I contacted them out of the blue and said I need to source a boulder where I’m going to slice off the top and make it a counter and bring it into New York City to install in a doughnut shop,” Carlton recalls.

Carlton and his team eventually identified several granite pieces that met the chef’s aesthetic criteria. The primary boulder weighs about 12,000 pounds, while the additional slabs used for the service counters add another roughly 6,000 pounds—18,000 pounds in total of what Carlton describes as “largely cosmetic but structurally significant weight.”

Because the I’m donut ? space sits above a basement, the project’s structural engineering partner, McLaren Engineering Group, worked to reinforce the flooring to safely support the nine tons of stone, along with the shop’s equipment weight.

Once the stones were cut and shaped to spec—and the counter pieces were mounted on reinforced steel frames—the team turned to the challenge of delivery.

“The Department of Transportation had to close 45th Street overnight,” Carlton says. “The rigging company unloaded the smaller pieces smoothly, but the six-ton boulder at first caused the forklift’s back wheels to lift off the ground. Luckily our riggers were very talented. They found a way to ease the rock off the flatbed and move it into place inside the store.” The riggers finished the installation around 7 a.m.—two hours past the deadline, but with all the pieces in place and fully assembled. “It was a nail-biting experience,” Carlton says.

Future Plans

When asked about I’m donut ? expansion plans, Hirako’s spokesperson says, “Right now, we are focused on the Times Square location.”

FACTS

I’m Donut ?
New York City

OPENED: April 2025

NO. OF UNITS: 14

HOURS: Sun.-Wed., 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 10 a.m.-11 p.m.

TOTAL SIZE: 5,725 square feet

CHEF/FOUNDER: Ryouta Hirako, peace put Co., Fukuoka,
Japan 

U.S. FOODSERVICE
CONSULTANT: Ryan Mikita, principal, Ricca Design Studios, Pittsburgh

ARCHITECT: Mike Carlton, managing principal, Carlton Architecture, New York City

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: McLaren Engineering Group, Woodcliff Lake, N.J.

BOULDER FABRICATOR:
Greg Valastro, director of project development, Champlain Stone, Warrensburg, N.Y.

BOULDER FRAME WELDER: John Coderre, The Mobile Welder, Whitehall, N.Y.

WEBSITE: imdonut.nyc

KEY EQUIPMENT

Throughout

Channel Mfg. bun pan racks

Eagle hand sinks

Metro shelving

Everpure water purification systems

Halton hoods

Main Level

Belshaw doughnut fryers

Revent reach-in freezer/proofer

Cambro ice caddy

Hoshizaki undercounter refrigerators, worktop refrigerators, undercounter freezer

Eagle undermount sink

Bunn coffee brewer, hot water
dispenser

Astra pour-over steamer

Hobart undercounter dishmachine

Second Level

Rheon dough divider

Hoshizaki undercounter refrigerator, undercounter freezer

Hobart 12-qt. mixer, door-type
dishmachine

T&S Brass hose reel, pre-rinse faucet

Third Level

ABS spiral dough mixers

Revent reach-in freezer/proofer

Blodgett double convection oven

CookTek stockpot range

Hoshizaki undercounter refrigerator

Robot Coupe food processor

Cambro ice caddy

Basement

Bally walk-in cooler

Hoshizaki reach-in freezer,
ice machine, ice bin

Advance Tabco hand sink

Editor’s note: The floor plan doesn’t show the basement.

T&S Brass is pleased to sponsor FER’s Kitchen Design feature. To learn more, visit tsbrass.com.