Open & Shut is a continuous series taking a look at the comings and goings of businesses in Southcentral Alaska. If you understand of a business opening or closing in the location, send out a note to press reporter Alex DeMarban at [email protected] with “Open & Shut” in the subject line.
Open
Jason’s Donuts: A family of 4 — Jason Carlson, Andreea Koski and their now-adult kids Ucinia and Kyrin Carlson — started this business offering doughnuts from their previous Fairbanks home doorstep in 2016 after Carlson was laid off from his job as a professional.
Six years later on, they closed their cherished Fairbanks-location shop, and resumed the completely family-run doughnut business in late June in Eagle River.
Carlson’s hand-cut, New York-design doughnuts are fluffy and huge — much bigger than numerous store-bought pastries. That’s the element consumers discuss the most, said his spouse, Koski, including that they’re likewise hooked on the taste and texture.
Some of their specializeds consist of a chocolate cake doughnut; apple fritters with fresh Granny Smith apples; the Danish cheese, which is filled with cheesecake; huge maple-glazed cinnamon rolls topped with bacon; and blueberry-glazed doughnuts topped with pieces of Pop-Tarts, to name a few ranges.
Then there’s the special-order-only Denali doughnut. At 3 1/2 pounds, it feeds approximately 12 individuals and is personalized with filling, glaze and garnishes “however you want,” Ucinia said.
Carlson initially found out to make doughnuts operating at a shop in Buffalo, New York, where he’d begun in a janitorial position, Koski said. He’d constantly liked to prepare and bake, and it grew out of control from there, she said.
“He treats this like an art,” Koski said. “There’s a lot of love that goes into these doughnuts. A lot of love and passion.”
Each afternoon at 4 p.m., Carlson starts making 100-plus pounds of dough for the next early morning’s batch. He puts a level of energy into the doughnuts that’s challenging to match for other bakers they’d formerly worked with, Ucinia said.
“When Jason does it, nothing’s really timed,” Koski said. “Measure with your heart,” Ucinia inserted.
“It’s all based on, you know, visual, touching the dough. Is it firm enough to start rolling out? There’s a lot of different factors,” Koski said.
Carlson’s kid usually shows up later on in the day, making glazes from scratch and hand-glazing the doughnuts. Then, at 4 a.m., they hand the shop over to Koski and child Ucinia, who open it for business at 5 a.m.
This sell-till-sold-out shop, situated at 12801 Old Glenn Highway, opens at 5 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Since their soft opening in June, they’ve offered out a number of days in simply 3 to 4 hours.
“The early bird gets the doughnut,” Koski said.
Sushi Motto: The owners of the long time downtown sushi joint Kumagoro have actually opened a brand-new Spenard-location sushi restaurant with an unique concentrate on shabu shabu, or hot pot. It’s situated in the space that was previously Peter’s Sushi Spot, which closed in April.
Sushi Motto is the family endeavor of Jennifer Choi and her other half, Steve Lee, who purchased Kumagoro in 2019. Choi has actually operated in the city’s restaurant scene for several years, spending about 13 as a server at Sushi Ya.
Anchorage has numerous sushi dining establishments, Choi said, however few that likewise serve her preferred meal — shabu shabu. She wished to give the neighborhood another variation of the food that she matured with in Jilin, China.
“Every time I go to China, I eat shabu shabu every day. Maybe twice a day. I love shabu shabu,” she said.
Sushi Motto’s shabu shabu is better to a Japanese variation, Choi said. “I can’t do, like, exactly the same as China, because there’s not much of the vegetables here and not much sauce,” she said.
The common hot pot concerns the table filled with a piping hot, homemade beef bone broth. Diners then include the raw active ingredients to prepare at the table: thin pieces of beef and lamb, tofu, enoki and shitake mushrooms, bok choy, noodles and more.
“You can really taste that it’s traditional. It’s not like a powdered broth,” said basic supervisor Christina Pierce. “We make it with real marrow, so you can really taste the beef in everything.”
The turnkey restaurant space featured a sushi bar. Choi’s other half, Lee, is the chef behind it, serving his sushi roll developments. His favorites are the spicier rolls, like the Motto Poki roll, filled with crab meat and shrimp tempura, and stacked high with combined poke, cucumber, tobiko and radish. The Orange Blossom roll has actually spicy salmon inside and spicy tuna on the outdoors, with thick drizzles of Choi’s unique sauces.
Sushi Motto held its soft opening on July 7. The menu is still in flux, and they’ll likely include more designs of shabu shabu beyond the beef broth, Pierce said.
The restaurant likewise provides a range of other meals, consisting of chicken teriyaki, katsu, yakisoba and more.
The restaurant at 3020 Minnesota Drive is open 6 days a week from midday to 9 p.m., and is closed on Tuesdays.
Two Hands Fresh Corn Dogs: A Korean-design corn dog franchise has actually discovered a home in Anchorage’s Dimond Center food court. Restaurateurs Ken Kim and Jin Park opened the area in late April to long lines of consumers waiting to attempt the street food that’s exploded on social media over the last couple of years.
These dogs featured alternatives. Customers select the filling, such as sausage, beef, spicy beef, a plant-based sausage or mozzarella cheese.
You likewise select the design. There’s the timeless dog, a sweet and mouthwatering Korean corn dog. Another kind comes covered in crispy rice puffs.
Park suggests the hot dog or potato dog. The initially comes covered with Hot Cheetos powder and Two Hands spicy sauce. The latter is covered in crispy fried potatoes and features Two Hands filthy sauce, comparable to a Sriracha mayo.
Two Hands is Kim’s 6th endeavor as co-owner and president of restaurant management group Topex Company, which runs 3 Top Bop areas. After Park signed up with as vice president in 2015, they opened 2 more, Ghost Kitchen and Eat’alia.
Park and Kim figured the Korean corn dog pattern while taking a trip out of state, seeing that the blend fare was flourishing in appeal. Two Handswhich is based in Los Angeles, has lots of areas throughout the nation, and the Dimond Center restaurant is its only area in Alaska.
“We just thought that Anchorage needs a little more than just a restaurant. Something more common in the Lower 48 that’s growing,” said co-owner Park. “Our key is to provide a variety of options for Alaska.”
[Open & Shut: Anchorage gets a chocolate tasting room, a reimagined Turkish restaurant and 2 gift stores]
Shut
Thai Siam: The popular Thai food restaurant at Spenard Road and Lois Drive shuttered its doors completely this month. An indication published to its door revealed its closure “due to retirement.”
“Thank you all for your support for the last 13 years,” the indication read.
MVP Sports Deli & Eatery: This sub sandwich restaurant on Tudor Road prepares to close for early retirement next month, according to a message on its website from owners Kevin and Genna Held.
“It has been an honor to have served each of you throughout the last 10 years. Thank you for choosing MVP to be a part of your dining experience and providing us the privilege to share our unique homemade recipes with you here in Anchorage, Alaska,” they said in the message. “May the ‘Levels-Of-Flavor’ you helped us create, remain in you forever as they will in us. So long friends, you will be dearly missed.”
This east-side area has actually been a regional favorite, understood for its Italian-design pastrami “cheesesteak” sandwich including house-made pastrami and white cheddar cheese sauce, topped with fresh Italian relish.
A Daily News dining writer composed in 2016: “With lovingly prepared components, high-quality ingredients and beautifully balanced combinations, the sandwiches at MVP Sports Deli are the closest I’ve come to the Italian deli subs I grew up eating in New York and New Jersey.”
The owners said MVP Sports Deli will close Aug. 12.
David’s Bridal: Anchorage’s most significant wedding event dress merchant, David’s Bridal, is closing. The store’s last day open to the general public is Tuesday, July 18, a staff member said.
The Pennsylvania-based chain filed for bankruptcy in April, cautioning that it would likely close much of its approximately 300 shops throughout the nation and lay off 9,000-plus employees. A bankruptcy sale agreement that received court approval this month would keep some shops open, however wasn’t anticipated to impact the Anchorage store closure.
