40 years of 'old-fashioned sugary goodness': Lee's Donuts to pass on the torch

It was 1968 the height of the free-love and civic rights movement on the West Coast when Betty-Ann Lee met the love of her life on a Vancouver campus.

The pair courted, married, and eventually settled down in government jobsbut never let go of the feeling theywanted to travel a more offbeat path.

Eleven years after their first date, Leeand her partner Alanopened Lee's Donuts, a Granville Island staple that Leeis finally passing on to a new generation of bakers.

Lee told On the Coastfood columnistGail Johnson that the shop, now 39 years old, was originally Alan's idea.

"He saw an ad in the paper for a doughnut-baking course in Minneapolis," Johnson said."So, as one does, he flew down and took it."

In the summer of '79, Lee's Donuts opened for business, thanks to help from the pair's mothers. Onehelped lay tile, while the other worked the counter.

They hired a head baker who's still around 35 years later. He and the Lees insisted on hand-forming each doughy treat after a failedexperiment with a cutting machine, which churned out tough pastries.

"Since day one, this place has focused on simple, old fashioned sugary goodness," Johnson said.

But after all this time, the doughnutmarket has evolved into an unrecognizable domain, onedominated by bizarreincarnations of the old-fashioned delicacy.

Savoury herb-infusions,toppings ranging from Fruit Loops to NyQuil,and "eyebrow-raising shapes" aren't uncommon in the world of doughnuts today, Johnson says.

Lee's most popular pastry remains the humble Honey Dip, however, and the new owners have said they won't stray too far from the Lee family'smodel.

"Good news for fans of Lee's," said Johnson."The new owners know that you don't fix it if it ain't broke."

With files from CBCRadio One's On the Coast