By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Anyone longing for Asian-inspired mochi doughnuts can now satisfy the craving without going all the way to New York City.

Retreat Sweets opened at 1533 Post Road East last week selling the sweet doughnuts as well as bubble tea and coffee, plus what owner Wesley Zhang calls “Korean street food.” That includes Korean all-beef hot dogs prepared with the special textured coating prized by Asian food aficionados. 

The new business is located in a space previously occupied by Dunkin’ Donuts.

“We’re bringing something new to the table” in Westport, Zhang said.

He grew up in the food business with parents who owned a Chinese restaurant. He went into the corporate world, as they wanted him to do, but found that starting and running a food business was in his blood.

“Their goal was to get me out of the food business,” he said. “But I can put my own creativity into this.” Starting a business that served mochi doughnuts also saved him the trouble of driving miles to get the Asian sweet, he said.

The array of mochi doughnuts on offer features many colors and flavors, all decorated differently. These include chocolate doughnuts, matcha with green frosting and a green tea flavor, crème brûlée, churro-and-brown sugar, as well as uba, a purple frosted yam doughnut.

Tapioca and rice flour used to make the doughnuts and tapioca pearls called “boba” in the tea are the ingredients that make mochi different, explained Zhang as he scooped pearls preparing to make tea.

He also plans to expand the shop’s menu in the next few months. 

But for now, he invites those who love mochi — and those who have never tried it — to visit his new shop.

Retreat Sweets, 1533 Post Road East, is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. For more information or to order, call 203-292-3062, visit the Retreat Sweets website or @retreatsweets on Instagram.

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Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.