The Los Angeles Times has a nice profile on Jim Nakano, aka the Donut Man, the man behind the shop selling the wildly popular strawberry donut in Glendora, California: How to describe the Donut Man's strawberry specialty? Great taste, messy filling.Nakano's gooey, crazy-delicious, strawberry-stuffed donuts have kept hungry customers coming to this divey little 24-hour takeout donut shack from all over Southern California for over four decades. Recession? Whatever. We're talking about strawberry frickin' donuts, son:
Nakano and his wife, Miyoko, began selling the seasonal strawberry doughnut in 1974, following it with another hit: the peach doughnut.I first read about Donut Man a couple of years back in an old Giant Robot article on Jim Nakano. Once the photo of the glistening strawberry donut gets stuck in your brain, there's no turning back. I have since made the pilgrimage to Glendora, ordered at the hallowed Donut Man window, and can attest that it is indeed a damn good donut.
Although the fruity foodstuffs are bestsellers, the shop has also earned a reputation for its tiger tail — a foot-long glazed twist with a ribbon of chocolate — and receives raves for its Bavarian creams and maple bars. With the treats came lore: Roy Rogers ordered a buttermilk bar before heading out on hunting trips. Elvis Presley, a jelly man, sent his karate instructor to pick up raspberry-filled doughnuts.
Nakano believes his high-end ingredients are why he hasn't felt the recession's pinch. He avoids artificial flavors, concocts his own fillings, even roasts his own coffee beans. As for the base of his doughnuts, he says the magic is in the potato flour, wet yeast and soybean shortening used for frying.
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