A renowned Japanese pastry chef is debuting his first doughnut shop outside of Tokyo in the heart of Times Square next week.
The whimsical shop created by chef Ryouta Hirako that is known as I’m donut? — yes, with a question mark to symbolically examine what a doughnut can be — will open at 154 W. 45th St. on April 22, Hirako announced Tuesday.
Hirako signed a lease for 5,725 square feet on the lower level and ground floor of the Times Square building with landlord Bow Tie Properties, according to information from CoStar. Co-founded by Charles and Ben Moss, Bow Tie Properties is headquartered in the same building, which has an alternate address listed as 1530 Broadway. Hirako is paying $622 per square foot for the space, including all utilities, according to CoStar, which does not indicate an expiration date.
The first I’m donut? shop outside of Japan will offer Hirako’s staple “nama,” which translates to “fresh” in English, doughnuts in flavors including matcha and chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, and sake cream, as well as savory options such as scrambled eggs, sausage in a blanket and chicken ginger teriyaki. A selection of vegan donuts will also exclusively debut in the new store.
“When I began seeing people’s excitement and reactions to their first bite of one of my doughnuts, I knew I had something special,” Hirako said in a statement. “I decided that I wanted to share these doughnuts with people everywhere. Everyone in the world knows Times Square — this became my dream.”
The interior of the store will honor Hirako’s Japanese heritage and reflect his beliefs of delicacy and modesty through the installation of a six-ton granite boulder sourced from a quarry in upstate New York and repurposed as a communal standing table, he said.
Other tenants in the 4-story, 119,000-square-foot building between Sixth and Seventh avenues include Old Navy, Duane Reade, Rise NY and the city’s largest McDonald’s.
