Breeze Bakery food truck offers breakfast and brunch from Four Mile Road location

It started as a “side hobby” a few years ago, selling vegan breads downstate out of a tent.

Now, Aleksa Fortuna and her fiancee, Josh Houle, are enjoying their latest business venture, offering brunch to the community through Breeze Bakery Foodtruck & Catering (located on Four Mile Road at Charlie’s Country Corner).

Aleksa said she met Josh when he responded to one of her social media bread advertisements.

“I wanted bread,” Josh said. “I still want bread.”

Aleksa said she started to sell bread during larger events, and Josh – who has 15 years of culinary experience – helped with the effort. Aleksa said she got tired of having to put up and take down the tents for the booths and Josh asked about the possibility of starting a food truck.

“I came to her and said, what if we did breakfast with your bakery stuff?” Josh said.

Josh said they conducted a search for a suitable truck, found one, and purchased it, but the truck was not fully equipped.

“A lot of work had to be put into it,” Aleksa said.

Aleksa said they did a lot of research and built the inside of the truck themselves. It took six months, they said.

Aleksa and Josh – they currently live in Mio – opened Breeze Bakery in Grayling on January 15. Aleksa said she does the baking and Josh does the cooking.

“We love making breakfast and brunch. I’m good at baking and he’s good at cooking,” Aleksa said.

They said the two most popular selling items so far have probably been the breakfast burrito (it comes with hash browns) and the cruffin breakfast sandwich. (A “cruffin” is a cross between a croissant and a muffin, Aleksa said, and it’s the “star of the show” at the food truck.)

“The burrito is good. It’s solid,” Josh said.

The food truck offers a variety of cruffins (including s’mores, orange marmalade, and cocoa chip). For drinks, Breeze Bakery offers coffee and hot cocoa.

Aleksa and Josh said the first few weeks of being open have featured “steady” sales and they’re expecting business to pick up as the weather improves.

“We’re not chasing millions. We’re trying to make a wage working for ourselves,” Josh said. “It’s paying our bills and that’s it for now.”

“We’re going to ramp up for spring and summer for sure,” Aleksa said.

Aleksa and Josh said they’re trying to locally source ingredients as much as possible; they get their beef from a Mio farm, their eggs from a Kalkaska farm, their bacon from Ebel’s, their coffee from Coffee By Steph.

Josh said they’re starting their own farm on one-half of an acre in order to grow potatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, and other vegetables.

Aleksa said she usually makes enough cruffins for one day in the morning but Breeze Bakery can accomodate large orders and bulk orders if customers call or text ahead of time at 734.273.9930. The Breeze Bakery website offers online ordering options. Currently, the truck is open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. seven days a week but the hours may be extended as temperatures continue to get warmer, Aleksa said.

Aleksa said the food truck does not have a microwave or a freezer and they only purchase ingredients for the next few days.

“If we won’t eat it, we don’t want to serve it,” Josh said. “What matters is making people happy.”

Aleksa said they’re trying to “connect with customers.” Josh said they want to treat customers “like they’re family.”

“It’s more than just business. It’s community,” Aleksa said.

Breeze Bakery is currently trying to raise money for Candy’s Hound Rescue. Donations can be made online or in person at the food truck, and Breeze Bakery is donating a portion of its April sales to the fundraising effort, Aleksa said.