The boisterously pink Voodoo Doughnut emporium on Colfax is humming with activity but a doughnut has yet to be fried there as of 10 a.m. this morning. Person after person scratched at the door only to hear "Please come back tonight, we'll open around 6 o'clock, maybe...or it may be 7...we are not sure."
The opening Portland-based Voodoo Doughnut has gotten Denver fired up and their owners are tickled by the attention but ask that we all take it easy on them for a little while. "We are opening tonight with many donut options but our full menu will not be available right away," explained Tres Shannon, one of the owners. "We will be ramping up and working on our stuff here every day with not-yet-clear hours of operation until the grand opening on January 15," he added.
How was Voodoo Doughnut born? In 2003, when every baker and sugar fanatic in America was opening a cupcake shop, Tres Shannon and Kenneth "Cat Daddy" Pogson, saw a hole in the doughnut market in Portland. And they filled it with Voodoo Doughnut, a simultaneously pink, dark, sweet, and greasy business that they launched in their home town.
Two shops and several other outlets selling their creations later, the founding duo wanted to expand out West and Denver was the lucky target of that desire because, well, Shannon has lived here for several years and because other options didn't appeal. "Seattle was just not right and San Francisco is just too expensive," explained Shannon.
We can all expect that the Mile High Voodoo menu will include (classically Voodoo) irreverent specialties like the cock-n-balls and the Tex-Ass. There will be Cake Doughnuts with categories like old-fashioned types, plain cakes, and devil's food cakes; Fritters- think apples and peaches; and Raised Doughnuts - rings, bars, and filled ones. The options: endless and the combinations: anything from ultra classic to funky fresh. It's tempting to refrain from asking for a description and order by names, which happen to include the Old Dirty Bastard, Captain My Captain, or the Double Bubble.
"This may be the fanciest doughnut shop in the world," Shannon said. And he may be right- it is big and spacious, colorful and eclectic, and it will be open 24 hours a day 360 days a year- Groundhog Day being observed by a 24 hour closure of the shop.
· VooDoo Rumors [EDen]
· Voodoo Doughnuts Plywood Report [EDen]