MEET RACHAEL

Did you know there’s a Guinness World Record for tallest stack of donuts in one minute? That award goes to Rachael Cholak, Midwest native and founder of the Brown University Donut Club.

Did I mention she has a matching donut tattoo with her dad? And that her dad owns Mike’s Donuts & Chicken in Kenosha, Wisconsin? Talk about a donut expert in training.

Check out our fun Q&A session below, and stay tuned for future interviews each Wednesday.

Expert: Rachael Cholak

@racholak | Kenosha, WI & Providence, RI

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I’m from Kenosha, WI and went to school at Brown University where I studied Theatre Arts and Performance Studies- Writing for Performance. I also created the first and only collegiate donut club called Brown Donut Club.

You’re known as The Donut Queen. Did your love of donuts come before or after your dad opened Mike’s Donuts & Chicken in Kenosha?

Mike’s Donuts and Chicken definitely birthed my donut obsession.

What's your current involvement with his donut shop?

Right now, I work remotely and help out with social media! Whenever I’m in town though I’m always in the restaurant.

What's your favorite menu item from the shop? How about most popular?

Favorite menu item has got to be the chicken and donuts appetizer. My favorite donut there is Mama P’s #HoHoNut, which is a collaboration with another downtown Kenosha business, Lou Perrine’s. I would have to say the most popular donut is our Maple Bacon Donut, which is delicious too!

I read you want to open up a donut shop in LA. Describe the vibe and some potential menu items.

I want it to be donuts and something… The something won’t be chicken, but chicken and donuts will be on the menu as an ode to my dad.

It will be called The Donut Queen.

I think the vibe would be similar to Mike’s Donuts.

What inspired you to create the Brown University Donut Club? What kinds of activities do your members do? Do you see the club continuing on now that you’ve graduated?

The club was so much fun to create and lead! I got a lot of free donuts from donut shops in Rhode Island. We worked with local bakeries and event planners for collaborations. The whole idea of the club was to get students together who wouldn’t otherwise have necessarily met at their time at Brown.

I have big shoes to fill as the Founder, Presidonut, and The Donut Queen, and I’m not sure if anyone wants to take that on. But if they do, you’ll get free donuts!

What have you been up to post-college?

Right now, I’m kinda just bumping around. I’m currently living in San Francisco doing an internship and eventually want to make my way to LA.

What's your favorite donut accessory?

Ohhhh I have so many to pick from!! But I’m gonna go with… my donut backpack from Bow & Drape!

What does your donut tattoo mean?

Oh gosh haha. This is a long story actually. My dad and I have a messed-up donut tattoo. It was supposed to be one donut, but the tattoo artist did the design upside down so we had to mirror the image (for reasons I can’t say on here) and we ended up with two donuts. We had to come up with a BS meaning for it because it was so messed up. We agreed that we would say the bottom illuminati donut hands are mine because they have purple nail polish on it, and the hands on top are his. It’s represents that I’m his donut prodigy.

Check out the articles and pictures below to understand more:

Donut get a food tattoo

Meet Rachael Cholak, the girl with the doughnut tattoos.

What’s Your Deal?: Rachael Cholak

Unike some of the other donut experts I’m interviewing, you have experience making donuts. Talk about the process.

The process takes a long time and you have to be very careful and patient. I hate the mornings, but making donuts and eating donuts will get me out of bed right away. To get the donuts out on time for opening, the process starts around 2:00am and includes preparation, making the dough, proofing the dough, and frying the dough. After this, you get to decorate! That’s my favorite part because it’s like the plain yeast donut is my canvas.

What are the top donut shops in your experience?

I’m going to have to plug my Providence donut shops since I went to school in Rhode Island. PVDonuts and Knead Doughnuts are to die for. PVDonuts does brioche donuts so well and Knead does old fashioned and filled donuts so well. My favorite donut at PVDonuts is their Dunkaroo and my favorite at Knead is their chocolate chip old fashioned!

I’ve been to hundreds of donut shops around the country, and The Salty Donut in Miami sticks out as one of the most delicious shops I’ve been to!

What donut shops are on your bucket list?

I still have a lot more donut eating to do. Top on my list to visit right now are: Blue Star Donuts (Portland/LA), District Donuts (New Orleans), Duck Donuts (east coast/TX franchise), Crafted Donuts (LA), Astro Doughnuts (D.C./LA), the list goes on and on…

How did you celebrate National Donut Day in June?

By eating so many donuts and wearing all of my donut garb!

What opportunities have come from your Instagram account?

A lot of people contact me for recommendations, interviews, and opportunities to do ads. A lot of companies and shops have sent me donut apparel.

Let’s talk gear: Camera, lenses, editing software, phone apps?

I have a nice camera, but don’t really know how to use it haha. I mainly take pics on my iPhone X and edit on Instagram or VSCO. I use the basics: Photoshop, iMovie, all that jazz.

Dead or alive, famous or not: who would you most want to share a donut with?

Anthony Bourdain, for sure.

What do you do when you’re not eating donuts?

Eating other food. I can’t cook/bake (unless it’s donuts), so I go out to eat a lot.

Rapid fire questions: