Specialty Kora Donuts (Instagram @fromkora)

August 9, 2024 By Shane O’Brien and Czarinna Andres

A popular pop-up bakery known for its luxurious doughnuts with a Filipino twist will open a permanent location in Sunnyside.

Kora has signed a lease for 45-12 Greenpoint Avenue and plans to open by year-end.

Founders Kimberly Camara and Kevin Borja made the announcement on their Instagram page last month. “We are so excited to announce that Kora will be opening its very first brick-and-mortar store this year!” the Instagram post read.

The 200-square-foot space was previously a dining room and frozen yogurt shop. It will now offer seating for up to 24 customers, allowing for more spontaneity and a more comprehensive customer experience.

The new premises will employ about 10 people and be open six days a week, Camara said.

Kora’s popular doughnuts will continue to be a staple, but the bakery plans to expand its menu to include puff pastries with Kora’s signature Filipino flair and flavors fit for queens.

The bakery is named after Camara’s grandmother and many recipes, such as the successful flan doughnut, are inspired by her heritage.

Camara and Borja, who both lost their jobs in the hospitality industry at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, started baking doughnuts in their Woodside apartment, using a recipe book passed down to them by Camara’s grandmother, who died in January of that year.

Co-founders of KORA Kimberly Camara and Kevin Borja

Camara had originally hoped to pay tribute to her late grandmother by hosting tasting dinners using her grandmother’s recipes in her apartment, but when the Covid pandemic struck, she had to change her plan.

“I wanted to use some of their recipes to make delicious dinners in my apartment,” Camara said. “But Covid changed the course of that project, and I tried to find another way – and that was with these doughnuts.”

Within months of launching, Eater recorded an 800-person waitlist, which grew to 10,000 by 2021. The duo moved into various commercial kitchens and currently makes doughnuts in a kitchen in Sunnyside that customers can pick up at Alewife Brewing.

“Demand took on a life of its own,” she said. “Over time, we eventually moved into a commercial kitchen to produce more and meet demand.”

“During the pandemic, times were very different. People were trekking to these unfamiliar parts of Queens to grab a very hard-to-find box of pastries.”

However, as pandemic restrictions eased, Camara said she noticed many customers asking for a more traditional store model.

“Right now we only offer our products on Saturdays, and that’s very limiting for people who want to order something throughout the week,” she said, adding that the timing to open a brick-and-mortar store “felt right.”

Camara and Borja see their bakery as a gathering place for the community, offering coffee, doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches, filling the void left by the closure of Alpha Donuts last year. They considered opening a shop in Manhattan, but decided to stay in Queens, where they’ve built a loyal following.

“We’ve never delivered. People have always picked up their stuff from us, so it’s exciting for us to be able to offer more access to the people who already visit us regularly. But what we also really liked about Sunnyside when we first looked at the space was how strong and tight the community is.”

Camara said she plans to keep the shop open late as a dessert shop. She added that she also hopes to offer classes to teach people how to make some of the baked goods at the bakery.

She said Kora started with traditional Filipino recipes but has since begun fusing Filipino and American cuisines to pay tribute to her shared Filipino and American heritage.

“I grew up here in New York, and I bring with me not only my Filipino side, but also the traditions that I grew up with as a Filipino American,” she said, adding that she always makes a point to infuse Kora’s pastries with local products.

Classic fried brioche filled with tart compote made from local peaches and cream enriched with jasmine (sampaguita). (Instagram @fromkora)

Camara pointed to a new peaches and cream pastry that is heavily influenced by her American upbringing, but also features jasmine-infused cream and serves as an homage to her Filipino roots.

“I still incorporate a little bit of both cultures into the things I develop, and I try to hold on to that as I continue to go through the creative process.”

She said Kora will offer a seasonal menu, with certain menu items changing every three or four months.

The Sunnyside site will serve as the flagship production facility, with plans to expand to other outposts in the future.

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