Mill and Bophasy Tan stand in their donut shop on Mission Avenue on Monday. The Tans have sold the shop after 24 years in business.Couple sells popular store after 24 years
Monday, June 30, 2008
By PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer
North County Times (Oceanside, California, USA)
OCEANSIDE ---- For nearly 30 years, the Tan family has lived a life measured by the baker's dozen. But no more.
On Monday morning, Mill and Bophasy Tan hung up their aprons for good, after serving their last bear claws, crullers and twists to a passionate cast of customers.
Tomorrow, Tan's Donuts will open with a new owner behind the counter.
Longtime customers said the shop will go on, but that the Tans are an Oceanside institution that will be hard to replace.
John Trevor-Smith said he has been coming to the small donut shop on Mission Avenue between Foussat Road and El Camino Real for "more years than I can count." There has simply been no better place to get his fix, he added.
"They just make a great donut. It's not mushy or greasy," Trevor-Smith said. "Their prices are far superior to anyone else's around here, and the quality is the best."
The Tans purchased their shop from a previous owner in 1984 after a five-year stint managing a Winchell's donut store in San Jose. Mill Tan said he attended Winchell's "donut school" to learn his skills.
The secret to a perfect donut? Attention to the details.
"You have to know the right time to fry and the right time to glaze," he said.
The wisdom sounds especially sage as Tan peers over the counter through his wire-rimmed glasses. Those eyes have seen more than donuts and cups of coffee. He and his wife left Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia in 1979, starting over in America as refugees.
Trained as a civil engineer, Mill Tan said he simply needed a way to feed his family, and donuts were one of the only opportunities available. Seven days a week for nearly three decades, the Tans have come to work at midnight, sometimes 11 p.m. if there is an especially big order, to prepare for the 5 a.m. donut rush.
"Some of our customers come here seven days a week," he said. "It's nonstop from midnight until you go home with the baking, and the serving and the cleaning."
The Tans were not alone in their decision to start frying donuts after leaving Cambodia. A quick Google search turns up dozens of tales of Cambodian immigrants starting in the donut trade after fleeing their homeland in the mid- to late-1970s.
Mill Tan, 67, said 30 years of constant standing ---- to make and serve circles of sweet indulgence ---- has taken its toll on his legs. But the toll is not so great that he plans of sitting at home in retirement.
"We're going to travel," he said.
Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.
On Monday morning, Mill and Bophasy Tan hung up their aprons for good, after serving their last bear claws, crullers and twists to a passionate cast of customers.
Tomorrow, Tan's Donuts will open with a new owner behind the counter.
Longtime customers said the shop will go on, but that the Tans are an Oceanside institution that will be hard to replace.
John Trevor-Smith said he has been coming to the small donut shop on Mission Avenue between Foussat Road and El Camino Real for "more years than I can count." There has simply been no better place to get his fix, he added.
"They just make a great donut. It's not mushy or greasy," Trevor-Smith said. "Their prices are far superior to anyone else's around here, and the quality is the best."
The Tans purchased their shop from a previous owner in 1984 after a five-year stint managing a Winchell's donut store in San Jose. Mill Tan said he attended Winchell's "donut school" to learn his skills.
The secret to a perfect donut? Attention to the details.
"You have to know the right time to fry and the right time to glaze," he said.
The wisdom sounds especially sage as Tan peers over the counter through his wire-rimmed glasses. Those eyes have seen more than donuts and cups of coffee. He and his wife left Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia in 1979, starting over in America as refugees.
Trained as a civil engineer, Mill Tan said he simply needed a way to feed his family, and donuts were one of the only opportunities available. Seven days a week for nearly three decades, the Tans have come to work at midnight, sometimes 11 p.m. if there is an especially big order, to prepare for the 5 a.m. donut rush.
"Some of our customers come here seven days a week," he said. "It's nonstop from midnight until you go home with the baking, and the serving and the cleaning."
The Tans were not alone in their decision to start frying donuts after leaving Cambodia. A quick Google search turns up dozens of tales of Cambodian immigrants starting in the donut trade after fleeing their homeland in the mid- to late-1970s.
Mill Tan, 67, said 30 years of constant standing ---- to make and serve circles of sweet indulgence ---- has taken its toll on his legs. But the toll is not so great that he plans of sitting at home in retirement.
"We're going to travel," he said.
Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.
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