On a stretch of Broadway that has seen its share of churn—and, lately, renewed energy—Brandy Walters is back in the mix. Her new Hole in the Wall Donuts pop-up, tucked into the former Ollie’s Slice Shop space, marks a return to Midtown Kingston for a restaurateur whose previous venture, The Anchor, was once a neighborhood fixture. “It feels great to be back in Kingston,” Walters says. “We’ve been trying to find a spot here ever since we sold our building. Kingston’s a popular place now and it’s a little hard.” Hole in the Wall opened on March 14.
Hole in the Wall Donuts emerged not from a long-simmering business plan but from crisis. During the early days of the pandemic, Walters was running The Anchor under extreme conditions—pivoting to high-volume takeout, feeding hospital workers, and employing displaced service staff from across the city. At the same time, construction projects on Broadway made the restaurant difficult to access, compounding the strain. “I had all these employees that I was really stuck trying to provide for,” she says. “So I came up with the idea of making doughnuts as a way to diversify and make payroll.”
What began as a pragmatic side hustle—selling doughnuts out of a window at The Anchor—quickly took on a life of its own. After selling the building, Walters kept the doughnut operation alive, moving into a period of pop-ups, festivals, and a roaming doughnut van that brought Hole in the Wall across the Hudson Valley. The model worked—until winter made it untenable.
Now, with a foothold in New Paltz—where the shop operates at 215 Main Street—Walters has returned to Kingston with a month-to-month pop-up she hopes will stick. “Kingston’s my home,” she said. “Midtown’s where I really grew a business. I love the community. I love the people here.”
If doughnuts are the hook, it’s Walters’s sensibility that sets them apart. A former florist, she approaches the medium less as pastry than as composition—an interplay of flavor, texture, and occasion. “You’re providing a treat. You get to be part of birthdays and weddings and holidays,” she says. “And then there’s the creative side—you see something and you get to interpret it in your own way.”
The menu reflects that ethos. Alongside standards like glazed and sprinkle-topped doughnuts are more distinctive offerings: Earl Grey blueberry, pistachio cardamom, and a creme brulee donut that has become a signature. Others rotate in and out—seasonal, experimental, or simply fleeting—keeping regulars on their toes. Donuts are $4 each, 6 for $20, and 12 for $35.
There’s also a savory streak. An “everything but the bagel” doughnut, filled with cream cheese and topped with everything seasoning, blurs the line between breakfast staple and dessert. Walters supplements the menu with bagels from Kingston’s BnB Bagels, paired with house-made cream cheeses in flavors like black garlic or dill pickle.
Early foot traffic at the Broadway pop-up suggests a blend of old and new Kingston. “We have people that have been customers from back when we were [The Anchor precursor] Rondout Music Lounge, and then we have the vibrant new community as well,” Walters says.
For now, the shop is open Thursday through Monday, 8am to 3pm, with hours evolving as Walters gauges neighborhood needs. The longer-term vision includes expanded offerings—coffee drinks, breakfast sandwiches, and deeper partnerships with local farms. But for the moment, the appeal is simpler: a familiar face, back on Broadway, frying dough into something both nostalgic and new.
