Any shopkeeper will ask you how your day is going, but Tanankam "Yee" Thanitithanand wants to know your morning story. Moreover, she wants to help make it a sweet one. It's why she, and her Oishi Japanese Restaurant partner Naruemon "Molly" Stephen, renamed Halo Donuts to Morning Story when the pair took over the doughnut cafe across the street from their sushi restaurant late last year.
Despite Halo Donuts only opening in late 2021, it was listed for sale again, about a decade after Stephen and Thanitithanand opened Oishi in 2013. The duo saw it as a way to turn the corner of SW 6th Avenue at SW Evergreen Avenue in Redmond into their own mini empire. And while neither of them had prior doughnut-making experience, Thanitithanand said Stephen loves to bake. I can confirm she has mastered the art in no time.
Some of the doughnuts are of the standard style, such as glazed twists, chocolate bars and maple-bacon. But as something of a doughnut docent, I'd steer customers toward exploring Morning Story's more innovative flavors, such as the pink lemonade bar (filled with both lemon and strawberry jelly). And why do so many doughnut shops begin and end their fritter section with apple when they can do what Stephen does and make a pineapple fritter? What's more, the shop increasingly offers doughnuts with Southern Asian flavors, such as the green tea matcha glazed cake doughnut and one that appears distinctly American, decorated with funfetti, but is flavored with rose water. Rose water is a delicate but inimitable flavor, truly like burying your nose in a freshly bloomed rose on a drizzly morning, which ought to be tasted in its cake doughnut form to be believed, and bewildered.
Asian flavors and foods beyond doughnuts abound. Morning Story's signature offering actually happens to be its Japanese crepes. They're not wildly different from French crepes, but are crispier and add great texture to the sweet (lots of fruits and syrups and spreads)—or savory (lots of meats and cheeses)—ones.
There are other savory items, including a long list of paninis, but with Oishi already a popular draw, they're toying with the idea of adding items like California rolls, too.
The mango sticky rice is another popular order, so much so that Thanitithanand said they've thought about making a mango-sticky rice doughnut. When the duo took over Halo, the kitchen equipment came with it, but it's not like that included a Krispy Kreme-style operation.
"We don't have a fancy machine in the back," says Thanitithanand. All the doughnuts are handmade and decorated daily. (They don't have gluten-free options at this time but have tinkered with recipes in hopes to offer them, and/or baked doughnuts for folks who fear fryers.) But they're still on a learning curve as to how many to make. Which is worse: making so many that leftovers have to be discarded, or not making enough and selling out in an hour? "It's so hard to predict," says Thanitithanand.
Weekends already prove popular with lots of families, especially when kids can order doughnuts and parents lean toward crepes filled with protein as well as the full coffee drink service. But with several schools nearby, Thanitithanand loves the before-school crowd, especially when kids have happy morning stories to tell. "I hear a lot of cute stories."
