Proudly Cambodian American: Knead Donuts & Tea
This story was previously published by Pink Box Stories on Nov. 8, 2019.
Knead Donuts & Tea, a unique seaside bakery and doughnut house in Long Beach, California began in an Uber ride. In 2017, Huey Behuynh was an Uber driver, carrying conversations with various riders throughout the day. One day, he picked up a passenger who mentioned popular doughnut shop, Side Car Donuts, in nearby Costa Mesa. After a short ride sharing stories, the creativity, freshness and newness of Side Car Donuts sparked something in Huey. The story of Side Car Donuts entailed the shop's new food trends and popularities, flavor reinvention and development in food art. Huey realized that he could do the same, with his own personal touch. And so that year, he opened a shop of his own in Morristown, Tennessee. Eventually Huey opened a shop in Long Beach, located on the side of a bustling street in the very town he grew up in, with a fluorescent sign larger than the front doors.
Like many Cambodian immigrants who live in Long Beach, Huey and his family fled the Cambodian civil war and Khmer Rouge genocide. Making ends meet became incredibly difficult and, as a result of losing almost everything in the war, they had no choice but to start from scratch. Like many Cambodians who escaped to the United States and entered the doughnut and restaurant industries, Huey's parents opened a Cambodian restaurant called Siem Reap in Long Beach that stayed open for 26 years. His extended family ventured into the grocery business. Ever since Huey can remember, he helped his parents and other family members with their businesses. Working around food and groceries were a pivotal aspect of Huey's life even into adulthood. When the restaurant closed in 2015, Huey took a hiatus from the food industry, but it was not long until that fateful Uber ride sparked newfound interest in doughnut making.
Since many Cambodian immigrants work in the doughnut industry, Huey knew many who could help him learn the ways of doughnut making. Whether it be about kitchen procedures, ingredient sourcing, recipe formulating or incorporation of new flavors, Huey could get all the doughnut making knowledge he needed from his Cambodian community. It was not long before Huey enlisted his family to help with his own shop, and he was able to make incredibly tasting doughnuts (that, lucky for me, I was able to get my hands on!). It is no surprise that his richly flavored, balanced, distinctive doughnuts that melted in my mouth were flying off the shelves.
Unlike his family's restaurant, Huey says, the doughnut shop has new goals and intentions, including "newness" and "freshness." Huey wants to revitalize and revolutionize what "the doughnut" and "the doughnut shop" can be, and prioritize that his doughnuts be made from the best ingredients around. Many in the community noticed these goals, and Knead began to stand out among the doughnut scene in Los Angeles. Their most popular flavors were running out on a daily basis!
Soon, the Long Beach Post, OC Weekly and Eater LA were writing about Knead and their inventive, creative, unique and tasty doughnuts. From a guava cream cheese doughnut to an original glaze, Knead offers it all to all. The flavor range Huey offers is astounding, and no matter what your preferences are, you can always find an amazing tasting doughnut or pastry: from something fruity (such as one of their most popular doughnuts, the blueberry doughnut), to something loaded with chocolate, to something savory (such as their pigs in a blanket, the blanket being doughnut dough). When reporters and the curious come around asking Huey for his secrets, he will emphasize that what makes Knead different is the quality of ingredients, products, service and ongoing research and development in new products, particularly in new doughnuts.
Huey is proud of his continuous development of new doughnuts and pastries, such as crème brûlée dulce de leches, and St. Patrick Day's Bailey's crème brûlée — items that aren't offered at any other shop. Huey's experience with his family in the restaurant and supermarket business gave him an edge to produce newer and better tasting doughnuts and pastries. From my perspective, it's not just the new and bold flavors that make Huey's business shine, it is his connection to his heritage and his pride.
When I first walked into the shop, it wasn't the beautiful doughnut display that caught my eye, it was the display of Cambodian heritage. I immediately noticed the two Apsara statues flanking the main door. Then, my eyes moved to the painting of Buddha overlooking the seating area, as well as the Buddha print right next to it. Even before meeting Huey, I realized that one of the many things that separates Knead from other doughnut shops in Southern California is the outward display of Cambodian identity. Other doughnut shops owned by Cambodian immigrants display more subtle references to their heritage. He has even embedded an icon of the Buddhist temple where he was born into the shop's logo, which is repeated on the entire front and street side exterior of the building. The display of culture inside and outside the shop gives Knead not just a personality but a history.
"When people put their sign out which reads 'donuts,' everyone knows what they are selling, but I think of it as branding," Huey said. "If I put my name out and my identity, eventually everyone will understand me. It's also a nod towards my background, especially the temple." To Huey, the doughnut shop business goes beyond taste and creativity; it is a vessel of community building, social unity and community giving. Huey is providing great food and a great environment to a community that helped him grow and succeed.
The highlight of our conversation was Huey's business model, specifically the ethics and purpose of his business beyond a form of cultural pride. Huey believes it is his responsibility to take care of all community members as they did for him. Through his business, Huey helps with fundraisers and donations to charitable causes within his community and provides food for community events. Huey recognizes it is the community that enables the business to thrive, and he makes an effort to give each and every customer the feeling that they belong.
The doughnut business is a people business and a community business. It's your community that will help you and push you in the right direction.Huey Behuynh, owner and founder of Knead Donuts & Tea
"The doughnut business is a people business and a community business," he said. "It's your community that will help you and push you in the right direction. You have no identity if the community doesn't support you." Even now, in a time immigrants are in danger and immigration is at risk at the hands of xenophobic ideologies and crimes, Huey proudly presents himself and his heritage, with the intentions of creating positive change. Huey wants people to know who he is, while he strengthens the community and the relationship he has to all those around him.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article misstated that Huey Behuynh picked up a passenger who knew the co-founder of Side Car Donuts. The passenger did not know the co-founder of Side Car Donuts. The correction made March 24, 2022.
