By TR Robertson
Glutenus Maximus owner Hunter Barrera has worked in kitchens most of his life so eventually becoming a business owner of his own bakery is no surprise and what an amazing bakery does he own. Open for two years now, Glutenus Maximus is becoming a go-to place for delicious baked daily pastry items every day for numerous North County Residents. The bakery is located in Vista Palomar Park Shopping Center located on the corner of Business Park Drive and Palomar Airport Road. The bakery specializes in Cruffins, Cronuts, Croissants, buns, rolls, cookies and so much more. More on these bakery items later in the article.
Hunter’s mom, Chef Keely, is the owner of Thyme in the Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe since 2019. Prior to owning Glutenus Maximus Hunter ran his mom’s catering company. The previous owner of Glutenus Maximus was Casey Smith who ran the business at Farmer’s Markets, specifically the one in Poway. Hunter and Casey worked together in a rental kitchen that the catering business used. In 2024, Casey was moving the business to a permanent location at the former Palomar Pizza location in Vista Palomar Park Shopping Center when Hunter approached him about selling the bakery to him along with keeping the name. The rest is bakery history as Glutenus Maximus has been open for the past two years. Hunter said he would love to open another location, perhaps in a coastal location. He currently also sells his bakery items at the Oceanside, Poway, Scripps Ranch and North Park farmer’s markets and is on a waiting list for Carlsbad and Vista farmer’s markets. He also said 21 coffee shops sell his bakery products. Hunter started with a staff of 2 and has now grown to a staff of 14, 7 of them bakers. The Marketing Maximus and Hunter’s life partner is Kolette Lavoy who can also be found helping out customers as they choose from the varied pastry items offered.
What makes Glutenus Maximus so unique is their specialty is not the traditional looking donut but is Croissants and a variety of Croissants called Cronuts and Cruffins. A Cronut is a French pastry invented by French Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel at his bakery in New York City in the SoHo neighborhood in 2013. Also invented in 2013 was the Cruffin, said to have been invented by Kate Reid of Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne, Australia; but popularized and trademarked by Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Chef Ry Stephen in San Francisco in 2014. As Hunter explained it, the croissant is typically a 16 layered, flakey, buttery texture pastry item usually shaped like a quarter moon. For the Cronut this delicious item is made by taking the trimmings from the croissant cuttings, referred to as scrap dough, and using this to make a smaller, layered, flakey pastry topped with a variety of tasty flavors. They have a rectangular thicker appearance than a donut. The Cruffin is made in muffin pans, layered and built up to the top then a larger domed top added. The Cruffins are filled with a variety of flavors then topped with the same flavor. The variety of the toppings and flavors along with the texture of the Cronut and Cruffin create a unique and delicious pastry experience.
The offerings Glutenus and Maximus varies each day Monday through Friday and on Saturday and Sunday the full menu of pastry items is offered. Each day you can go online to see what will be offered the next day and you can pre-order and pay for the items you want. They will be boxed and waiting for you the next morning. Or you can simply stop in to see what is available and purchase the pastry items at that time.
The following is a list of all of the items Glutenus Maximus offers:
Cronuts – Chocolate glazed, Vanilla glazed, Salted Maple, Oreo
Cruffins – Boston Cream, Biscoff Cookie Butter, Dirty Chai, Lemon Curd
Croissants – Butter Croissant, Pecan pie with bourbon whipped cream, chocolate, almond, strawberry shortcake, Ham & Swiss, Jalapeno Ham & Cheddar, Turkey-Havarti-Pesto and a Croissant sandwich with sausage, hash browns, melted cheese, fried egg and lemon-garlic aioli
Other pastry items offered – Butterscotch Pecan Sticky Bun, Fudge Brownie, Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie, Macadamia White Chocolate Cookie, Chocolate Almond Cookie, Cinnamon Rolls, Carmel Apple Cinnamon Rolls, Apple Galette, Raspberry Orange Danish, Blueberry Lemon Danish, Blueberry Muffin, Croissant Bread Pudding, Chocolate Toffee Scone
Hunter said his favorite is the Cardamom Vanilla Morning Bun and I had a tasty Sausage Roll with Djon Aioli which I ate for lunch. I’ve also tried the Salted Maple Cronut and my wife, Carolyn, tried both the Boston Cream and Lemon Curd Cruffins and said they were both amazing.
Pastry boxes of various sizes can be ordered online.
Liquid refreshments included Hot Coffee from a local Seven Seas Roasting Company, Hot Tea, Peach Tea, Nitro Cold Brew from Sleeping Giant, Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Chocolate Milk, Pellegrino, Coke and Water.
As you can see you have an amazing list of food choices to choose from and you will definitely not go away hungry. There is an outside area available to sit and enjoy your choices if you can’t wait until you get home. Prices for each of the items are listed online at www.GlutenusMaximus.com . The address is 3265 Business Park Dr., Ste A, Phone number 760-727-5559. They are open 7 days a week, 7 am – 2 pm. Their goal is to sell everything each day, and Hunter suggests you try to get to the Bakehouse by 10 am or order online the day before. This is one pastry shop you will not forget.
