A Taste-Bud Time Machine

The proliferation of donut shops in town is telling — donuts are here to stay, and for good reason. A fresh, hot donut is a ticket to simpler times, a handheld comfort on par with Grandma’s crocheted blanket. It’s a throwback, an affordable pleasure, a yummy a.m. or p.m. pick-me-up that makes a cup of coffee want to be the best version of itself. 

The team behind Lily’s Donuts & Coffee, now open at Santa Barbara Public Market, honors that place within the psyche where donuts reside. Flavors here are fun, updated takes on retro tastes — cinnamon roll, Mad Men Old Fashioned, Butter Cake Sea Salt — made with premium ingredients by a French pastry chef who happens to hold a black belt in judo. The nostalgia factor at Lily’s is key, but so is the quality.

“It’s an indulgent thing, a splurge for sure, but it doesn’t have to be unnatural,” says Omar Khashen, a partner with Komron Tarkeshian, two friends since elementary school. The concept came about while waiting out the permit and building process of The Ellwood in Goleta, where Khashen is cofounder. Gary Coburn, the semi-retired industry legend behind the likes of Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s, and Joe’s Crab Shack is also on board for this circular treat ride.

The project hit lightspeed when Tarkeshian met Nick Dubois on their sons’ soccer field in Newport Beach. Dubois, a classically trained chef from France, had done his time in hotel restaurants and was working as a private chef. His immediate response to the proposal was less than eager.

“Come on, a donut shop?” he recalls saying, but soon he and his family made the move up the California coast. Lily’s extraordinary flavor development is a team effort, but it’s Dubois’s attention to detail that brings ideas to the pastry shelves. “We trust each other to get the job done,” says Dubois, who keeps recipes in his head and baked his first cake at the age of 6. He also likes playing basketball with his son and meeting his wife for lunch, perks of starting a work day well before dawn. 

All ingredients for Lily’s donuts are natural — no colored sprinkles here — yet the hot pink glaze of the raspberry lemon and the purplish blue of the blueberry are Jimi Hendrix vivid, with mega flavor to match. Sourcing includes local farmers’ market hauls, organic dried berries from Meduri Farms, plus imported premium cocoa, nibs, and couverture or French baking chocolate from Valrhona. Organic artisan flours — including a toothy, whole-wheat flour Dubois uses for the baked graham cracker topping the s’mores donut — come from Central Milling in Petaluma for the levain, brioche, and cake varieties. 

[Click to zoom] A few of the choices at Lily’s Donuts & Coffee | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

If the devil is in the details, Dubois’s kitchen is a wonderful, fiery hell. He’ll torch a meringue, then make an additional dry meringue crumble for added texture on the lemon meringue donut (this and Brown Butter Cake are among daily gluten-free options). He candies whole pistachios and pecans to garnish the Pistachio Cream and Carrot Cake. He draws hot espresso to flavor molded chocolate beans adorning the Espresso Martini. Swift drizzles of caramel and chocolate over toasted shredded coconut nicely replicate the look and taste of a Samoa Girl Scout cookie.

Dubois describes an early challenge he had maintaining the sourdough starter for his levain in our coastal climate. “One day it’s so hot, then there’s fog and humidity,” he says. This chef has the confidence to keep raspberry seeds in his glossy glaze. “I like things perfect, but not too perfect,” he adds.

Savory options at Lily’s make it a veritable breakfast and lunch stop. The breakfast sandwich with egg, Nueske applewood smoked bacon, New School American Cheese and sriracha aioli; caprese with heirloom tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, and balsamic; and smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers, red onion, and fresh dill all come on toasted sourdough levain. Twelve to 15 donuts are featured daily until sold out, with new flavor rollouts coming down the line and possible collabs with neighboring Public Market vendors. 

Coffee at Lily’s is a custom blend by Bonita in Ojai called “Sunrise Session” — a reference to early morning surfing — for cold brew, drip, and espresso drinks, or sold whole bean in cheerful and reusable packaging. Hot or iced specialty matcha and seasonal refreshers such as Butterfly Lemonade, made with color-changing butterfly pea flower, are also available. 

Lily’s Donuts & Coffee is an outpost to Lily’s Donuts & Pops, the flagship location now under construction on lower State Street. In addition to dazzling donuts, look for paleta-style frozen pops, made on-site using local, organic fruit with optional chocolate, caramel, and nut dips, due late summer. Wine and beer pairings with master sommeliers are also in the works.

These days, of course, there’s plenty to worry about. But remember the anticipation and carefree joy of a favorite donut? The people at Lily’s surely do.

Lily’s Donuts & Coffee is located at the Santa Barbara Public Market, 38 W. Victoria Street. See lilysdonutsandpops.com.