Holey Rollers spreads GOURMET GOSPEL
Gourmet doughnuts help Paseo Arts District from slowing its roll
When mom wakes up Sunday morning, make sure the only hole in her Mother’s Day is in the middle of the breakfast you’ve curated for her from Holey Rollers.
Located in the historic Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo, substantive doughnuts and pastries made fresh daily are the stock and trade at Holey Rollers— ideal for a decadent breakfast in bed.
But if you do drop by this week don’t be surprised if you walk out with a lot more than doughnuts, and a new favorite hangout.
Taking The Plunge
First impressions of the doughnut shop are deceiving. Wood accents and bright pastels are plenty inviting, but there doesn’t appear to be much seating in the 400 or so square feet dedicated to front of the house.
However, 180 degrees from the cash register you’ll find an entryway into the cozy common area, which boasts plenty of seating and Wi-Fi. It shares the space with Literati Press, where you can find something to read if you’re dining alone. Now that that spring has sprung, the patio is open.
For co-owner Andrea Koester, any seating at all is a luxury since the concept beganas a mobile kitchen, which is where much of her operating background comes from via Big Truck Tacos. She was among the original employees of the popular food truck back in 2009 and spent several years managing the mobile arm of the operation.
“I learned a lot at Big Truck,” Koester said. “They do it so well. I learned so much about how to run a food truck and complement a restaurant with one.”
Koester’s experience gave her the confidence to launch her own business, selling vegan pastries to vendors across the metro. Response was strong enough to lead Koester to a 1962 Zipper trailer. Koester had it up and running at the Urban Agrarian Market and for special events by April of 2016.
Response was strong enough to make Koester and partners Josh Gautreaux and John Otjen confident enough to take The Plunge — the one in the Paseo that had been vacant since the late 1980s.
The Paseo Plunge opened in the 1930s as a popular public indoor swimming pool. Then notorious nightclub owner Jake Samara bought it and he and his partner Jack Sussy usedit to store their frozen pizza and spaghetti products.
When that business went south, Samara opened The Spaghetti Factory, where diners could create and had the option to cook their own pizzas or eat all the spaghetti they could handle for $2.50 Tuesdays through Thursdays.
By 1990, the subterranean property was abandoned, remaining vacant until the late John Belt and his family began restoring it.
Dollars to doughnuts
Last fall the spacebecame home to a cooperative now anchored by Holey Rollers.
Having a fixed location kitchen gave Koester the latitude to hire a pastry chef. During her time operating at The Urban Agrarian Market she met chef Tim Mort, a Stillwater native recently returned to Oklahoma from the posh Amangani Resort and Hotel in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Mort’s time at the luxury property presented him with every conceivable challenge at all hours of the day and night, and said it was the best training he could’ve asked for.
“We sort of specialized in making things happen for our guests, no matter what,” Mort said. “It’s like you have no choice but to get better.”
The trial-by-fire resourcefulness Mort developed has been a godsend to Holey Rollers.
“We really go to a lot of trouble to make sure things are right,” Mort said. “Some of the doughnuts are baked, some are fried— it just depends on what’s best for the item.”
Mort said he’s also developed a bond with the folks at Tanh-Son Tofu.
“I’ve definitely learned more about tofu working here than anything else,” Mort joked.
That’s because Mort serves a breakfast sandwich (egg and tofu) on a house-made English muffin that you really don’t want to miss. If you consider yourself tofu-averse, this item is a good one to test the theory against. Promise.
Holey Rollers began as a strictly vegan endeavor, but not because Koester embraces a meat-free movement.
“I can’t eat dairy, so it started out as just creating something I could eat,” Koester said. “All our doughnuts are still dairy-free.”
The menu has evolved away from any hard and fast labels. Organic ingredients are used extensively but not exclusively.
“For us, it’s really about using what we think are the best ingredients,” Koester explained. “Plus, we knew we were going to have coffee service, and you need milk for that. That’s why we got away from doing everything vegan.”
The menu has since evolved to include breakfast sandwiches with vegan English muffins and local, farm-fresh eggs from Shawnee. Holey Rollers also serves breakfast tacos, and yogurt with house-made granola and overnight oats.
Vegans are still well covered at Holey Rollers and will be hard pressed to find a pastry shop in town with more to offer them. That said, the menu now plays to a broader audience, which is a wise business decision.
Doughnuts to dollars
The doughnuts at Holey Rollers aren’t cheap. Embrace it because, in this case, it’s a good thing.
A dozen doughnuts runs about $30, but this dozen will actually feed a dozen people.
That’s because Mort arrives at work by 3 a.m. every day not only to make the doughnuts by hand, but to deliver the goods.
Crack open a doughnut from Holey Rollers and you will see this is an actual pastry. Doughnuts that cost less than a dollar are typically whipped with so much air the resulting doughnut practically floats out of the hot oil and into the case. That means you need two or three to feel like you’ve had a meal.
The threading and density of the dough Mort pushes out is a work of art.
Traditionalists should start with a vanilla bean raised yeast doughnut.
“That’s our take on the traditional glazed doughnut,” Koester said.
Koester calls the apple cider doughnut topped with cinnamon and sugara signature of the baked selections.
The Mexican Hot Chocolate includes a dash of cayenne and cinnamonghost pepper salt. Even the sprinkles they use are all-natural.
The fritter is, perhaps, the piece de resistance. But if you get one for mom, you’d better plan to help her with it or lunch will be ruined.
Mort serves seasonal options and rotates in new flavors to keep things interesting.
Koester uses local roasters KLLR Coffee, Elemental Coffee Roasters and Eôté Coffee Company to serve cold brew, pour-over and latte. The smiling face you’ll typically see behind your cup of joe is manager Brooke Ward.
“I’ve really enjoyed it here,” she said, pouring a cup. “We’ve got some great regulars I’ve gotten to know.”
The truck still operates a full schedule from spring to fall at special events and is available for private events. Recently, Koester and her partners announced they were partnering with SixTwelve and Circleculture Farms to launch a farmers market in the Paseo Arts District.
SixTwelve, 612 NW 29 St., started hosting the fledgling farmers marketrecently and is scheduled to continue it from 9 a.m. to noon each Saturday through the end of October.
Koester, Gautreaux and Otjen are just getting started around Paseo. For their next trick they will reopen The Red Rooster Bar & Grill at 3124 N Walker Ave. Renovations have begun, but that’s a story for another day.
Holey Rollers is open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends. For more information, go online to holeyrollersdonuts.com or call 212-2383.