I already know what you are thinking.

Do I really need to know about a doughnut place in L.A.?  The place right around the corner from me is just fine.

As you may or may not know, original doughnuts have been a trend for a while now.  Wait, then does that make it not a trend?  I have seen all kinds of crazy flavors, huge sizes, and decadent concoctions (Cronut, anyone?) over the past few years.

However, fōnuts is the opposite of the flash-in-the-pan doughnut shop.  I pretty much tried these just after the shop opened in August 2011.  As it says on the menu board, a fōnut is “a doughnut that is baked and/or steamed, never fried.”  Also, there are tons of gluten-free and vegan options too, so everyone can join in the fun!  Hence, the name fōnut, a portmanteau of the words faux and donut.  Sound too hippie for you?  Take a look at the beauties below…

Yep, I took some time out of my study schedule to drive to fōnuts, to do you the favor of introducing you to them.  So selfless, I know.

Before I get to the menu, display, and all of the flavors, I gotta say that I love the beverage station.  Even if you don’t usually get the coffee and doughnut combo, it’s worth it here for the cute factor alone.  🙂

Anyways, let’s take a look at the menu.  You have your regular doughnuts, your gluten free doughnuts, your vegan doughnuts, ice cream, and a fōnut sundae, if you wish.  I have actually never gotten it or seen anyone get it.  Maybe next time?

Here is the display case, with the ever-present glare that is the bain of my existence at bakeries…

Check out a close-up of each of the four cases.  First, the two on the left.

This one had some mini fōnuts on the top shelf, but they typically get swept up in the early morning rush.  Dang!

And the case on the right with all of the larger donuts.  You’ll see what I mean in a minute.  🙂

So, I packed up a large variety in my baker’s dozen and got to work eating taking pictures.

If they knew me at all, they wouldn’t bother wrapping a ribbon around it.

Okay, so I will be listing all of the flavors with the accompanying pictures and a bit of commentary.  First will be the regular doughnuts, followed by the gluten-free, and ending with the gluten-free vegan varieties.  Let’s go!

I had this one before and loved it.  It is one of their two most popular flavors, along with…

I love a blueberry donut, remember this post?  The two donuts above are still my favorites.  The texture is not like a puffed donut, but like a regular blueberry donut: moist, slightly cakey, and oh-so buttery.

I was wary of the savory doughnut as a gimmick, but I really liked it!  Here you can see the texture of a bit better.  So light and delicious!

These are the larger doughnuts in the case to the right.  See how they look like two stacked together?  The inside is actually fluffy just like a real glazed doughnut!  I have no idea why I didn’t take a bite and show you.  Oops!

If a churro and a doughnut had a baby, this would be it.

The glaze might have not perfectly survived the drive home, but it was still pretty good.  I could not actually discern the peanut butter flavor very well, but it is still worth getting.

Perfectly sprinkled chocolate donuts!

I generally stay away from nuts on donuts because they can be dry, but hazelnuts are a different story.  Nut lovers (nut nuts?) will like this donut.  🙂

Note: Ditto on the texture as above, but not as good.  A good substitution for those who adhere to this diet, but I will be skipping these items next time for some of their regular flavors.

Very subtle coconut flavor.  In fact, I was not even sure which flavor it was at first!  Still, it’s pretty good and really pretty!

Think of your favorite lemon bundt cake, and this is it in doughnut form, glaze and all.  Yum!

Another gorgeous doughnut, but honestly this one just crumbled on me right away.  Nice flavor, but I wish it was baked with their regular ingredients…  Hopefully it was just a bad batch that day.

This flavor would perfect with a cup of coffee, but also a bit crumbly in my opinion.

This is a seasonal flavor, which I thought had the best texture of all of the gluten free and vegan varieties.  In fact, I had to check which category it belonged to.  Nice!  Also, the color was just radiant!

It was initially my gut reaction to order more of their regular flavors, such as their Hawaiian, Salted Caramel, and Vanilla Cream Filled, but I wanted to try a variety.  Of the thirteen, I loved all of the flavors, and it was just a matter of which textures were more appealing.  Next time, I definitely want to try the three above, along with my favorites (Strawberry Buttermilk & Blueberry Earl Grey).

fōnuts
8104 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 592-3075
http://fonuts.com