Making Rounds
Tucked into the side of Ward Village’s Whole Foods is a curved wall made up of tall floor-to-ceiling windows. This half-moon-shaped exterior belongs to Holey Grail Donuts’ recently opened flagship store — and yes, it is meant to resemble a donut. Inside, your nostrils are greeted with the scent of sweet dough being fried. Beverages like a nutty, creamy (non-dairy, thanks to cashew milk) ube latte are served on draft, and doughnuts are made to order in sleek black packaging. If there’s a holy grail of doughnuts, this must be it.
For brother-sister duo Nile and Hana Dreiling, this moment has been a longtime coming. The duo dropped everything they had to pursue a business together — Nile as the CEO, and Hana as the creative brain. “We’ve been food-obsessed since childhood,” Nile says. “A big part of our family time was spent cooking and going to the farmer’s market.” Opening a food business just made sense.
As for why doughnuts of all foods, Hana says, “Doughnuts are the perfect vessel. Everyone loves doughnuts.”
Around 2018, Niles left their home state of Oregon to join Hana, who had been a chef on Kaua‘i. They bought a burger trailer together, which Nile manned during the week, as Hana perfected a doughnut recipe using ingredients from the community. It took her about a year to perfect the dough recipe, which she says is “really our holy grail.”
Using locally sourced taro (Pomai Kulolo on O‘ahu and Hanalei Poi on Kaua‘i, which are milled at Kealia Farm Market in Kapa‘a) as the starch and frying in coconut oil gives the doughnuts an andagi-like texture — moist on the inside but a savory, crunchy outside. “Like how the potato doughnut is in Maine, our taro encapsulates Hawai‘i,” Hana says. A bite into the Hot Single — a honey-drenched doughnut with a salty kick, a fan favorite — backs her claims. The doughnut is light and hits the perfect ratio of dough-to-sweet toppings. The Notorious P.O.G. embodies every local’s childhood of sipping sweet, tangy passion-orange-guava juice. The Island Chocolate is indulgent but not overdone. The Hail Mary’s cardamom and rose flavors are floral yet light.
The dough is made fresh throughout the day, and every ingredient is handpicked by Hana and her team, typically inspired by the islands, the farmers she has worked with, and what’s fresh and in season. She calls it “stealth health” compared to your typical doughnut that’s made with artificial flavors. Instead, Holey Grail uses vanilla from Laie Vanilla Company, real locally grown liliko‘i, and cacao from Lydgate Farms on Kaua‘i, to name a few.
Since inception, she’s created over 60 flavors — and keeps going. Flavors rotate weekly, which gives you a reason to return. Hana continues to push the envelope, even introducing “doughnut toast,” or her take on the avocado toast craze. Macadamia nut spread from the Big Island on top of a toasted doughnut. “It’s savory and delicious,” she says.
Meanwhile, the siblings are working on opening a location in Santa Monica and running a food truck in Culver City. When they pause to think about it, they’re both pleasantly surprised at their success during the pandemic. “Doughnuts absolutely bring joy,” she says. “This has proven to be an important time to serve doughnut to our community, and they’ve been so welcoming.”
1001 Queen St., #101, 808-482-0311, holeygraildonuts.com