Leonard's Bakery

Leonard's Bakery is a Portuguese bakery in Honolulu, Hawaii, known for popularizing the malasada. The fried pastry, slightly crispier and chewier than a doughnut and with no hole, is known as a cuisine of Hawaii. Though Portuguese immigrants brought the malasada to Hawaii at the turn of the 20th century, Leonard's opened in 1952 and brought it to a wider audience. Leonard's is a household name in Hawaii and is well known in the continental United States and internationally. A franchise location opened in Japan in 2008.

Leonard's Bakery
Restaurant information
Established1952 (1952)
Owner(s)Leonard Rego Jr.
Food typeBakery
Street address933 Kapahulu Avenue
CityHonolulu
StateHawaii
Postal/ZIP Code96816
CountryUnited States
Coordinates21.2849°N 157.8133°W / 21.2849; -157.8133
Other locationsYokohama, Japan
Websiteleonardshawaii.com

Background and history
A box of Leonard's malasadas, and the remains of one

Margaret and Frank Leonard Rego Sr. opened Leonard's Bakery in 1952. Rego's mother had encouraged him to sell malasadas,[1] a holeless Portuguese doughnut with a "crispier" outside and a "chewier" inside.[2] Portuguese plantation workers brought the dessert to the Hawaiian islands when they immigrated at the turn of the 20th century. Leonard's is known as an "old-fashioned, plain-Jane bakery"[3] that popularized pastries and desserts in Portuguese cuisine, like Portuguese sweet bread and pão doce meat wraps,[2] sometimes with a Hawaiian cultural borrowing like haupia, coconut, and guava filled malasadas.[4][5]

As of 2011, the bakery remains a family business owned by Leonard Rego Jr. whose own children participate in its operation just as he once did.[6]

Andrew McCarthy of the National Geographic Traveler wrote that the bakery is an institution that "anchored" its neighborhood.[7] In Hawaii, Leonard's is a "household name".[8] Residents from the other Hawaiian islands often bring home Leonard's malasadas as an omiyage (souvenir gift).[9] The fried doughnut-like item may be unique to Hawaii,[9] but are well known both in the continental United States and internationally.[10][11][12][13][14] The Honolulu bakery is a point of interest on at least one island tour.[15] In 2012, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that the bakery sold over 15,000 malasadas daily, or over 160 million since its opening.[1][lower-alpha 1]

Rego Jr. opened a franchise location in Japan's Yokohama World Quarter Shopping Center in December 2008. The location only sold cinnamon and sugar malasadas at first,[16] but later added malasadas with fillings.[17] Japanese investors Forest Inc. first asked Rego Jr. about licensing the brand in March 2008, and Rego Jr. felt that the timing with the Great Recession "couldn't have been more perfect".[16] The deal was completed three months prior to the opening, and the owner flew in to train the staff for a week and a half. Rego Jr. plans to open more franchised locations in Japan and on the other islands of Hawaii. In 2009, the company employed 60 people between three stores (two in Oahu and one in Yokohama) and two Oahu food trucks.[16]

Reception
Display case inside the bakery

The bakery's malasadas were Foodspotting's top "Hawaii food find",[18] and USA Today described the doughnuts as having become "a Hawaiian icon".[19] Sunset recognized Leonard's for making the sweet a "Hawaiian classic" that is now served at Honolulu restaurants from drive-ins to Chef Mavro, "the city's classiest restaurant".[2] Vinnee Tong of The New York Sun wrote that Leonard's was "a required stop for foodies and ... dessert addicts".[20]

Frommer's calls it a "Honolulu landmark",[21] and The Huffington Post lists Leonard's malasadas alongside poke, Spam musubi and shave ice as "must try" Hawaiian cuisine experiences.[22] It is also profiled in Mimi Sheraton's critical food book 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die,[23] and John T. Edge's Donuts: An American Passion.[24]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. By comparison, in 2009, the bakery sold about 12,000 malasadas daily.[16]

References

  1. Sigall, Bob (December 21, 2012). "Some Food for Thought about Hawaii's Bakeries". Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
  2. Salkever, Alex (June 2003). "Malasada magic". Sunset. Vol. 210, no. 6. p. 50. ISSN 0039-5404. ProQuest 203292858. closed access (Subscription required.)
  3. Laudan, Rachel (January 1996). The Food of Paradise: Exploring Hawaii's Culinary Heritage. University of Hawaii Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-8248-1778-7.
  4. Burbridge, Wendie (August 3, 2013). "Five-0 Redux: Ono for 'Five-0′ grinds". Honolulu Pulse. Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on April 15, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  5. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Hawaii, Penguin, 2015, p. 193, ISBN 978-1465443403
  6. Fleck, Chris (March 9, 2011). "Leonard Rego Jr". MidWeek. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  7. McCarthy, Andrew (December 2013). "Aloha, Honolulu". National Geographic Traveler. Vol. 30, no. 8. pp. 12, 52–53, 55–56, 60. ISSN 0747-0932. ProQuest 1477434989. closed access (Subscription required.)
  8. Martha Chang (December 8, 2011), "Sweet Treats in Honolulu", Honolulu Magazine
  9. Wanda A. Adams (July 4, 2012), "Nothing 'mal' about malasadas", Honolulu Weekly
  10. Michele Kayal (July 5, 2002), "36 Hours – Honolulu", The New York Times
  11. David Landsel (March 5, 2013), "Lei-ing down the law in Hawaii", New York Post, archived from the original on September 2, 2014
  12. Alan Gibbons (September 26, 2013), "Five places not to miss in Honolulu", Orange County Register, Santa Ana, California
  13. Scott Podmore (October 7, 2012), "Six food fantasies you must experience in Hawaii", The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Australia
  14. Bill Granger (March 7, 2015), "A taste of the tropics: Bill Granger's Hawaiian feast", The Irish Independent, Dublin, Ireland
  15. Nina Wu (September 11, 2005), "Former food critic turns entrepreneur with tour for hungry, adventurous visitors", Pacific Business News, Honolulu, Hawaii: American City Business Journals
  16. Hall, Taylor (June 15, 2009). "Bakery sweet on franchising". Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  17. Menu, Leonard's Japan, 2013, archived from the original on March 14, 2015, retrieved May 12, 2015
  18. Kam, Nadine (July 20, 2011). "Taste of NYC". McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Washington, United States. ProQuest 878058112. closed access (Subscription required.)
  19. Sell, Shawn (March 11, 2005). "Defiant doughnut survives diet trends". USA Today. p. 5D. Retrieved November 15, 2014 – via LexisNexis. Everyone in town knows about Leonard's malassadas, sugarcoated balls of fried dough, Portuguese in origin, that have become a Hawaiian icon. closed access (Subscription required.)
  20. Tong, Vinnee (November 5, 2004). "Eating Through Honolulu". The New York Sun. p. 1. Retrieved November 15, 2014 – via LexisNexis. closed access (Subscription required.)
  21. Where to Eat on the Big Island, Frommer's, retrieved March 7, 2015
  22. Landess Kearns (March 4, 2015), "10 Foods You Absolutely Must Try In Hawaii", Huffington Post
  23. Mimi Sheraton (2015), 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List, Workman Publishing, p. 274, ISBN 9780761141686
  24. John T. Edge (2006), Donuts: An American Passion, Penguin, ISBN 9781440628641
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