Pre-pandemic, every time Josh Kim would travel somewhere, he’d make sure to try whatever version of doughnuts that country or city was putting out.
“For me, doughnuts are a nostalgic, lifelong thing,” Kim said. He had dreams of opening a doughnut and coffee shop close to his home in Milton, and, along with business partner Chris Sedgwick of Sedgwick Restaurant Group, found the perfect space in one of two historic buildings in the village.
Kim worked on renovating the 1,100 square-foot space, which previously served as a general store, for more than a year before debuting Bloom Doughnuts last week at 15260 Hopewell Road. The name is a nod to the idea that yeast blooms in doughnuts and is also a nod to flowers grown by Kim’s wife (Bloom hosts pop-ups featuring her flowers on the weekends).
The menu at Bloom is simple by design — a handful of yeast doughnuts, fried and toasted to order, and coffee beverages made with beans from Atlanta-based East Pole Coffee.
To develop Bloom’s doughnuts, Kim tapped Megan Allen, who also serves as the executive pastry chef at Sedgwick’s 7 Acre BarNGrill, also in Milton.
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Allen spent six months researching doughnuts, trying out different recipes and techniques to create a yeast doughnut “with an open, light structure,” she said.
The result is what Kim calls a “farm doughnut,” with flavors like Citrus Thyme, Coffee Pancetta, Honey Blossom, Gingersnap and Cinnamon Sugar, as well as an Apple Fritter.
“It’s a homey, really unique doughnut,” Allen said. “I always say that I want my cooking to be like a young, hip grandma, but just do it in a way that’s a little more fresh and young.”
Kim said the idea was to appeal to the palette of everyone in the family, from adults to kids, without being pretentious.
“This is a product that I could bring to grandma, or grandma would have made for me,” he said.
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Doughnut flavors will likely rotate every two weeks, using seasonally-available, locally-grown ingredients. Future flavors will include yuzu as well as toasted white chocolate and coconut. A cinnamon doughnut and a fritter will be regular menu fixtures.
In addition to doughnuts, Bloom serves a selection of drinks, including several made with East Pole single-origin coffee. You’ll also see Instagrammable beverages like the Butterfly Pea Flower, with lemonade green tea on the bottom, purple-hued butterfly pea flower on the top, and a splash of rosewater.
Bloom’s menu items are designed for takeout, although the space offers about 15 seats inside by the way of bench seating along one wall, as well as a few seats outside.
In the future, Kim plans to add fried chicken to the menu, but in the meantime he’s content to perfect menu offerings along with Allen, as well as focusing on service.
“We think our product is good, but if the service isn’t fast and friendly, it’s kind of meaningless,” he said. “We feel lucky that people are willing to try us out, and we want to show that appreciation.”
Bloom is open from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. Masks are required.
15260 Hopewell Road, Milton. bloomgeneral.com.
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