Meet Yoshi, The Man Behind Good Town Doughnuts
Tucked away in the heart of The LAB Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa, California resides Good Town Doughnuts, an ever-evolving eccentric shop. First opened in Tokyo, Japan by Atsushi Kurumata, this New York-inspired doughnut shop made its way to California in January of this year by Kurumata’s best friend, Yoshiyuki Ochi, or "Yoshi." While these two shops are somewhat sisters in product and style, they remain unique to their two locations.
Yoshi has been a California resident for the past 15 years, and has done just about everything under the sun. Listed on his resume, you will find baker, vintage buyer, clothing designer, musician, and magician - yes, as in magic. Yoshi is no rookie at The LAB Anti-Mall. For five years he owned and ran the clothing store, "Great Laundry," and made his way back since he “couldn’t forget how great it was working there.”
When asked why he wanted to open up a doughnut shop in California, Yoshi responded, “I love the environment in California…and we didn’t find a lot of brioche-style doughnuts in SoCal, so we thought it was a great opportunity.” Getting into shop every day at 5am from Manhattan Beach, Yoshi practices extreme dedication to his craft.
If having great doughnuts wasn’t enough, Good Town started to make vegan options a short while after opening back in January. For that reason, vegans from all over SoCal are thanking Yoshi. As a neighbor to popular vegan restaurant, Seabirds Kitchen, Yoshi saw the demand and decided to meet it. “A lot of customers asked if we were making vegan doughnuts, so we decided to make them,” said Yoshi. “We spent a couple weeks making this vegan recipe since we wanted to make a vegan doughnut that had the same quality as our original ones.” Since then, Yoshi has added both vegan cinnamon rolls and vegan bread which appeal to the vast majority paired with the delicious Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee
Up next, Yoshi has plans to unveil some toast options which may officially land him the title of a “one-stop” shop when it comes to baked goods. With dreams to make Good Town into “somewhat of a bake house,” it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume cookies, muffins and other baked good are on the horizon.
Staying true to his vintage clothing roots, Yoshi decided to transform his Santa Fe vintage collection into a shop. Separated by just a wall and a window, it’s definitely hard to miss Red & Blue Vintage next door when visiting Good Town Doughnuts. While a passerby might assume the shop is closed at a glance, all one needs to do is simply ask Yoshi to open it up for you to peruse his unique finds.
Follow Good Town Doughnuts on social at @goodtowndoughnutsusa and The LAB Anti-Mall at @thelabantimall for updates!
“Please come to our shop and tell all your friends about this place!”
— YOSHI