Wulf’s fish market to close

Brookline’s doughnut game is about to step up a notch.

Union Square Donuts, famous for the lines out the door in Somerville and around the corner at farmers markets is bringing its artisanal, hand-rolled, yeasted sweets to the Coolidge Corner area.

The JFK Crossing neighborhood to be exact.

The doughnut shop is slated to take over 409 Harvard St., the spot near the corner of Naples Road that Wulf's Fish Market has occupied in Brookline for some 90 years.

Wulf’s recently announced it plans to close that location in May and head to the Seaport District, and Union Square Donuts is slated to take over the space on June 1.

“We’re hoping it doesn’t take long after that to open,” co-owner Josh Danoff told the TAB Tuesday evening. “We’ve been wanting to open more shops, and when we got word about the Wulf’s spot, it really seemed like such a perfect place... Brookline is a great place.”

Selectmen granted a license for the bakery Tuesday night, but Union Square Donuts still has a complete renovation and building and health code inspections ahead of it before the bakery will open.

Union Square Donuts, named for its original location in Union Square is known for making fresh doughnuts daily with flavors like Sea Salted Bourbon Caramel and Belgian Dark Chocolate alongside classics like the Boston Crème.

The new Brookline location will have space for 13 seats. And the plan is for this location to be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to serve doughnuts and coffee. Danoff said the dough and glaze will still be made in Cambridge, but the frying and baking for the location will take place daily at 409 Harvard St.

Danoff, along with his brother and sister, fell into doughnuts after working on a separate project. The trio founded bicycle food delivery service Culinary Cruisers in 2011 in an effort to encourage the use of bicycles to transport food from farmers’ markets. After they outfitted a bike they started by selling Kombucha on tap at farmers’ markets and then expanded to include Mexican popsicles. Then Josh Danoff noticed a trend: Handcrafted doughnuts were in high demand.

In response to that demand, the family brought on an experienced baker, and Josh and the baker, Heather Schmidt, a 20-year veteran of the baking industry and a former baker at Clear Flour in Brookline, started working on recipes in 2013. Union Square Donuts was born that year in Somerville.

Today the store has locations in Union Square in Somerville, Cambridge and temporarily in Inman Square. They also show up at the Boston Public Market and they’re working on a collaboration with Johnny Cupcakes on Newbury Street.

Although the business has been growing steadily, Danoff said he takes the food part very seriously.

“Most important is the quality of our doughnuts,” he said. “We’ve been trying to grow both at a steady pace and one that makes financial and business sense. As we’ve scaled up and produced more doughnuts, the quality of the dough has gotten better.”

One of the most popular doughnuts is the maple bacon, said Danoff.

“It’s basically a pancake breakfast that you don’t need a knife and fork for,” he said.

Danoff said the bakers use King Arthur Flour, and he sources the other ingredients locally. Dairy comes from Maple Line farm in Western Massachusetts, and the maple syrup comes from a small family sugar shack in Vermont.

“They do a special blend for us that is exceptional,” he said.

Danoff said he is passionate about good food.

“Food has this ability to elicit this sense memory. And when you walk into the shop you smell the smells and there’s something familiar about it,” he said.