After years dreaming of creating a space for people to enjoy tasty pastries and spend time together, Jarrod and Abi Gutierrez earlier this month launched a dedicated doughnut shop, The Glaze.

Located in the building that formerly housed New Peking, across South Willow Street from Country Foods IGA, The Glaze serves doughnuts either individually or by the dozen, with a variety of both classic and innovative styles of the familiar pastry. The “basic doughnuts” are glazed and topped with powdered sugar, chocolate or sprinkles; then there’s several more complex orders.

On Monday, the Glaze had several options that were experimental or seasonal. There was a pumpkin pie doughnut with pumpkin pie filing and a maple top; a s’mores doughnut with graham cracker on top and marshmallow on the inside, and a churro-style doughnut with cinnamon and a chocolate drizzle.

Jarrod said they’re looking to have fun and make things that taste good. Abi said they’re both creatives — she makes music and he draws and paints — and crafting fun new doughnuts gives them a space to come together and dream up new ideas.

Abi said that sharing their doughnuts with the community is special because doughnuts are special to her and Jarrod. Every Sunday before church, she said, they would get doughnuts, and they shared those mornings and memories with their children. When they came to Kenai, that was missing.

“It’s about creating those moments for people and for their families,” Abi said.

Doughnuts, they said, are something that the Kenai Peninsula was missing. Before opening The Glaze, they made doughnuts for Brother’s Cafe, but there hasn’t been a dedicated doughnut shop in Kenai or Soldotna in several years.

Jarrod said he grew up with a doughnut shop on every corner. For all the coffee huts dotting the area, that perfect complement was missing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when they spent some time living in Texas, they seized the opportunity to pick up much of the equipment they needed, but then for years the dream couldn’t coalesce.

That was, Abi said, until in the spring of this year they went to “just go look” at the New Peking building. With some help from Jarrod’s parents, their dream started moving a lot faster. Within a month of viewing the property, they owned it.

Their remodel of the former Chinese restaurant is extensive, with floors pulled up, walls painted, and specialized equipment installed. It couldn’t have been done, Jarrod said, without a lot of help from family, extended family and church family. That work is ongoing, with much of the building still under renovation.

Already, the pair are dreaming up ways their space can grow and evolve. First on their list is getting their espresso machine up and running, but then they want to see it grow in terms of breakfast options, adding other treats like ice cream, expanding the hours of operation, and widening the seating space.

Long term, they said, the idea is a coffee lounge-style vibe, where people can sit, meet, work and enjoy.

Jarrod said, after some 12-hour-long days, he wonders what he and Abi have gotten themselves into. It’s “exhilarating,” he said, to show up early each morning and make enough doughnuts — using as much as 100 pounds of mix on busy days — and then seeing people enjoy the product. There are already people, he said, coming in each morning for a dozen to take to work.

He said he’s excited to create job opportunities for his family and for others in the community — they’d hired a new staff member Monday morning.

At a ribbon-cutting event on Sept. 4, Jarrod, Abi, and their family stood outside The Glaze in front of a line of dozens of people eager for dozens of doughnuts. Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel cut the ribbon with a little help from one of their daughters.

For more information about The Glaze, find “The Glaze Donuts” on Facebook or @theglazedonuts.alaska on Instagram.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel is joined by one of the children of the Gutierrez family as they cut the ribbon to open The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel is joined by one of the children of the Gutierrez family as they cut the ribbon to open The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Children distribute bags of doughnut holes during a ribbon-cutting event for The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Children distribute bags of doughnut holes during a ribbon-cutting event for The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Abi Gutierrez fills a box of doughnuts during a ribbon-cutting event for The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Children fill bags of doughnut holes during a ribbon-cutting event for The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Abi Gutierrez fills a box of doughnuts during a ribbon-cutting event for The Glaze in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Abi Gutierrez fills a box of donuts during a ribbon cutting event for The Glaze in Kenai on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel is joined by one of the children of the Gutierrez family as they cut the ribbon to open The Glaze in Kenai on Wednesday, Sept. 4.