The Best Thing I Ate All Week: A Brioche Mango Passionfruit Doughnut from Squamish’s Fox and Oak

Last weekend, my long-term emotional investment (read: boyfriend) finally showed some return: an invite to his buddy’s condo in Whistler. Pumped to stay in a beautiful little home for free, I started looking for new stops to spend money on during our mini road trip up. If anyone needs a financial advice, call me.*

I picked Fox and Oak, a doughnut shop and café that opened earlier this year. Apparently, the little shop on the corner serves 1000 doughnuts a day to a very enthusiastic community. 

When we got to Fox and Oak around 9:30am on Saturday, the lineup snaked out of the shop and wrapped around the side of the building—a good, if tedious, sign. But the small team behind the counter was slingin’ rings (that’s what they call it in the doughnut biz, trust me) with expert speed. In less than 15 minutes we were up at the counter gazing at the selection: classics like cinnamon sugar and old fashioned, hipster picks like woash tea and blueberry pancake, and the kid-friendly birthday cake, which the child in front of us proudly ate while straddling his tiny strider bike.

We went with a vanilla glaze, blueberry pancake and a tropical pick: mango passionfruit. The mango passionfruit was so fresh that the barista gently laid it on top of a paper bag instead of sliding it inside, so as not to disturb the still-setting glaze. What a champ. 

And while the blueberry pancake was good (very cake-y) and the vanilla was, well, a pretty vanilla choice (why mess with a classic?), the mango passionfruit was absurdly good. The undisturbed glaze was made with cordial from Frostbites, which is also based in Squamish, and that combined with the cloud-like brioche doughnut was the perfect match. Not too sweet, not too heavy, and worth fighting with your partner over who gets the last bite. (Me. Sure, he bought gas and drove us all the way to Whistler and back, but I paid for three donuts. Equality rules.)

It was a quick stop, but definitely worth the detour on the way up to Whis (or a great place for a bite if you’re staying in Squamish, of course). At $3.50 each, they were a hair less pricey than Cartems, and objectively better in taste and texture. There was also the bonus of about 10 dogs bouncing around outside—some tied to bike racks, some giving I-am-starving-seriously-it-is-ethically-wrong-that-you-are-not-sharing eyes to their owners, and some actually eating donuts. Yes, Fox and Oak sells “dog doughnuts” for $2.00.

Good people.

Brioche Mango Passionfruit Donut, $3.50
Fox and Oak
1396 Main St, Squamish
foxandoak.ca

*Kidding, obviously. If you need financial advice you should probably call this guy.