A reporter from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin sat down to chat with Jim Nakano, owner of the famed Donut Man stand on Route 66 in Glendora, Calif.
In a region that really likes its doughnuts, the Donut Man stands out — especially because of its strawberry doughnut. It’s a split pastry piled generously with whole strawberries. It’s practically a meal, all for $2.80.
Foodies have elevated the item into an object of idolatry. Nakano and his creation have been featured on the Food Network and Huell Howser’s “California Gold” and in innumerable newspaper and magazine writeups.
The latest – well, until now – was in February, when LA Weekly included the Donut Man’s strawberry doughnut in a cover story memorably titled “99 Things to Eat in L.A. Before You Die.” It was the only Inland Valley foodstuff so honored. […]
Nakano picks up strawberries six days a week from a grower who farms at Cal Poly Pomona and in Rowland Heights. Holding up a berry, he draws my attention to the light green leaves.
“Look at the leaves, they aren’t wilted or anything. Most berries, when you get them in the store, they’re a day or two old. I tell my grower he can pick mine riper,” Nakano explained.
After the berries are washed and their tops removed, they are mixed with a light, translucent glaze of Nakano’s design. A puffy, chewy jelly doughnut without the jelly is used as the shell. It’s split in three-quarters and berries are spooned in.
“And we just stuff it,” Nakano said as an employee heaps a second spoonful into the doughnut. “A 12-ounce cup, we figure, goes into each one.”
Nakano says he created the strawberry doughnut in 1974. It was a hit, and remains his biggest seller.
But if you visit the Donut Man, don’t expect to get his strawberry doughnuts in the late summer, fall and winter. They’re available only from February until July. He only wants strawberries that are in season.
Go read the rest of the story about Nakano, who was in the Japanese-American relocation camps during World War II.