A husband-and-wife duo are changing people’s minds about the gluten-free donut by bringing a healthier start to the day on Montana Avenue.
Now open at 709 Montana, Fōnuts Bakery is the culmination of Los Angeles native Nancy Truman’s kitchen exploits, searching for 25 years for the perfect treat that tackled her gluten intolerance. What came of it was the always-baked, never fried new sensation of Santa Monica.
"As a baker, I couldn’t find anything that was good enough, that tasted like it wasn’t gluten-free, and I’m super particular," Truman said. "So I just started [making] my own stuff. I would take recipes I love that were filled with sugar, gluten, etc., and I would just modify them dozens and dozens of times until they tasted as good, if not better than the original, but healthier."
The recipe that initially put Truman on the map was the gluten-free, low-sugar Banancy Bread, a mesh of chocolate and "really ripe bananas" that added the sweet touch. Selling the bread at the Mar Vista Farmers Market, she caught the attention of enough customers that she evolved into embracing other creations like the "fōnut."
Hailing from New York City in a design management operations background, Thom Furtado embraced both the product and the person, eventually wedding the cuisine queen and becoming an integral part of the Fōnuts expansion.
Though he laughed when asked if he wanted to join his wife’s donut endeavor, he said that being asked to do so turned out swimmingly.
"She convinced me six years ago or so, I just joined as operational design support," Furtado said. "She’s definitely the genius, [this is] nothing without her brilliance."
Truman feels differently, crediting her husband for the store’s design choices along the way. Before popping up on Montana, the Fōnuts movement was already in full swing in West Hollywood and Studio City, with Furtado a key piece of the latter store’s aesthetic.
"I would not have the business without my husband," Truman said. "He designed and built the entire shop, he’s behind the scenes, he does everything … I’m just in the kitchen, I only create the things, he does everything else."
Furtado said he wanted to "do something different" than other locations, bringing a "cleaner" and "more modern" vibe to Montana’s high-end business scene.
"Nancy was really inspired by the old European bakeries with everything in the window, so we wanted to try and do that, that’s why we pulled the counter right up to the window … (we) wanted to have a rich feel," he added.
The space is just the donut hole to the actual Fōnuts brand, with Furtado noting that the public has gravitated toward the basics. The churro-flavored fōnut, he said, is "hands down" the pick of the litter, and that customers also crave strawberry shortcake, blueberry earl grey, vanilla and double chocolate.
Also crafted in mini-size, the signature donut item of the shop is just the beginning, as the duo has added to the menu in recent years. Truman has updated past recipes such as a Crostata, an Italian cake recipe given to her from her best friend’s grandmother 30 years ago.
Going even further back, she has also modified her mother’s original carrot cake recipe from 50 years back, adding to the assortment of fōnuts and cookies. Truman is also looking toward the future, currently working on gluten-free dog treats to serve during September’s Day of the Dog festival.
Stating that "one of the most satisfying experiences" is turning the tide on people’s opinions of gluten-free treats, Furtado wants Montana Avenue to know that the elevated snack is here to stay.
"There’s only a couple spots where our product really is going to thrive, and Montana is definitely one of them … we’re really excited," he said.
Fōnuts is now open from 8am to 5pm Tuesday through Sunday, and online orders can also be made through fonuts.com.
