The convergence of biscuits and doughnuts resides at Richmond’s Beaunuts.
What happens when buttery biscuit dough takes a dip in the deep fryer? Biscuits and donuts become one to form Beaunuts, the newest food truck concept to hit the streets of Richmond.
Growing up in the south, grandma’s biscuits were a staple on the table for Beaunuts chef/owner Ernie LeBreque. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Pittsburgh and settling in Richmond to work as a chef, LeBreque breathed new life into the buttermilk biscuit recipe by adding sugar and vanilla. Once the dough was just right, it was into the fryer and ready for glazing.
Last spring, the coronavirus put the Upper Shirley Vineyards chef de cuisine behind the fryer in his own food truck. When LeBreque and his wife found themselves out of work, they turned to the well-loved donuts as a source of income, selling more than 1,000 at their first two-day pop-up. LeBreque now sells weekly wherever he can find a spot to set up, including outside of restaurants like The Roosevelt, Garnett’s, and Toast. The rotating Beaunuts menu riffs on Southern classics like banana pudding, red velvet cake, blueberry cobbler, and Moon Pies. BeaunutsDonuts.com
This article originally appeared in our October 2020 issue.
