Brad Keiller (Courtesy photo)
Donuts, bagels, North Park
Brad Keiller of Nomad Donuts Discusses Flavors, Snoop Dogg, and Expansion
By Frank Sabatini Jr.
How did a manager of a software company with zero baking experience end up becoming one of San Diego’s most popular donut makers?
After jumping careers more than eight years ago, Canadian transplant Brad Keiller rolled into North Park with Nomad Donuts, just when gourmet donuts began seeing a commercial uptick locally. His success was gradual as consumers eventually caught on to Nomad’s far-out flavors and unique vegan options. Various food media started taking note as well, including the producers of a competitive baking show by the Cooking Channel.
When talking to Keiller recently, we quickly learned that the business is constantly evolving, and there’s far more to it than fashionable, crave-worthy donuts.
Downtown Condo Guys: What originally brought you to San Diego?
Keiller: I grew up in Winnipeg, Canada and earned my undergraduate degree in law philosophy in Ottawa. And while working toward my master’s degree in business administration in Toronto, I came out here for my best friend’s wedding. About three or four days into it, I thought, ‘I like this place.’ Then a few weeks later, I moved here and got a job in the software industry shortly after.
Downtown Condo Guys: When and why did you open Nomad Donuts?
Keiller: It was in 2014. I had never seen myself in the food industry. This came about when my friend, Cameron, and I were surfing, and he said it was his dream to have a gourmet donut shop some day. I was burnt out from my software job and decided to help him start this company—and I ended up really getting into it. I’m the majority owner, and he’s a partner along with about a dozen other friends.
Downtown Condo Guys: How many donut flavors do you currently have in your repertoire?
Keiller: Our recipe book contains thousands of flavors. Some of them didn’t make economic sense—like the saffron-cashew donut for example. That one broke the bank and is never coming back.
Part of the fun is that our donut creator, Claire Bastarache, gets to come up with new flavors through the support of ideas from the employees. Claire was a private baker before coming to Nomad.
Downtown Condo Guys: What are the options on any given day?
Keiller: Our menu changes every month. We’ll run 12 specialty flavors per day, plus three basic flavors like chocolate, a couple of cake donuts, an old fashion, and a cruller. And we usually have 14 vegan flavors.
Downtown Condo Guys: What are some of the specialty flavors we’ll see in April?
Keiller: We’re going to be doing a 420 tribute to Snoop Dog on April 20. He came out with his own line of INDOGGO Gin that we’ll be using in the recipe—not cannabis. (Chuckle) We’re still playing with the flavor and ingredient combinations.
And for the whole month of April, we’ll feature some other new yeast donuts such as an African milk tart filled with almond, cinnamon and vanilla custard. We will also have an apple crisp donut with brown sugar and sage; a ‘golden milk’ donut spiced with turmeric, cardamom, ginger, allsprice, cinnamon and black pepper; and a ‘pistachio halva’ with tahini and pistachio nougat on top.
Downtown Condo Guys: We see that bagels and bagel sandwiches are a big deal at Nomad as well. When did you bring those into the mix?
Keiller: Those were added to the menu in 2017 when we moved from our nearby original address into our current space, which is four times larger. The bagels are Montreal-style because, one: they’re boiled in slightly sweetened water—we use agave. And the second part is because they’re baked in a stone oven, and we use long wooden boards for pushing them into the oven and pulling them out. It’s an Old World artisanal style. We also steal from New York in that we roll our bagels before they ferment and rise in the fridge for two days.
Downtown Condo Guys: Tell us about the Nomad Donut food truck you recently launched?
Keiller: The food truck started in November, and it only sells bagels and bagel sandwiches. It doesn’t have a regular schedule yet, but it’s been at Northside Tavern in Ocean Beach the last few weekends, and we’ve had it at the North Park Farmers Market on Thursdays. We’re trying to get the truck somewhere downtown on Wednesdays.
Downtown Condo Guys: When was Nomad featured on the Cooking Channel?
Keiller: It was early on, after we first opened. Our pastry chef at the time, Kristianna (Zabala) was on their competition show called Sugar Showdown —and she won. It was a Thanksgiving theme. She made a cruller donut with cranberry glaze and candied almonds. I would like Nomad to be on TV again.
Downtown Condo Guys: In terms of demographics, who are your most frequent customers?
Keiller: Oddly, our demographic isn’t what I thought it would be. Surprisingly, it’s mostly females, ages 25 to 35. I thought when we first opened, it would be more middle-age males and office-type people. I think because our donuts are so unique and pretty—and with the growth of Instagram—is why our customer base is this way.
Downtown Condo Guys: Any plans to open a second brick-and-mortar shop?
Keiller: Yes, I’m actively working on it, and it may happen in late 2023 or 2024. Our business plan has always been to have small satellite locations throughout San Diego County, with this serving as our main kitchen.
Downtown Condo Guys: When you aren’t immersed in the business, what are your favorite pastimes?
Keiller: I’ve been an avid motorcyclist since I was a kid. I like riding my 2015 BMW R NineT on the 94 East along what’s known as Smuggler’s Run. It’s my pride and joy. If I have a lot of time, I’ll go to the desert for a four-hour ride. Or, for whole-day trips, I’ll ride down the Baja coast to Ensenada and the Valle de Guadalupe. It’s an incredibly beautiful ride.
