To the owners of the Hole in One Bakeries and the Fairway Restaurant, family is everything. They believe that when you come through the door of one of their eating establishments in Orleans or Eastham, it should feel like coming home – and it does.
On any given day, you can find familiar faces from the community – from bankers and barbers to returning visitors and town officials – all there to visit, to eat, to socialize or just to have a quiet breakfast. It’s the place where people gather to chat, enjoy coffee and have a famous hand-cut donut, or to just tuck in to a comforting, homemade Italian meal among friends.
Ken Taber and his sizable family (which includes his wife, her three sisters, two brothers- in- law and their assorted children, nieces and nephews) got involved with the Hole in One donut shop in 1992 and haven’t looked back. The family, which is largely Sicilian, brought their business know-how and their best comfort-food recipes to the Cape, and have opened their doors and their lives to their community, and have been doing so ever since.
The Hole in One’s oversized hand-cut donuts, cinnamon buns and pastries are made fresh before the sun comes up, and people come from miles around for them. They’re just that good. The jelly donuts and sour cream donuts are the big favorites. But donuts are not all they do. While the Hole in One in Eastham serves an incredible variety of donuts, pastries, muffins, coffee and more, the Orleans location has all of that, and serves breakfast and lunch, too.
Behind the curtains, it’s a real production, according to Taber. Most of the food is made in the Eastham location and brought to Orleans. “My wife and her sisters taste everything new that they make,” he added. “They don’t see it as work, they see it as fun.”
The menus at both the Hole in One Bakeries and the Fairway remain largely the same throughout the seasons but, once in a while, something new will appear. There are always the main core dishes available, but they do add a few new items each year.
At the Fairway Restaurant, where you can enjoy breakfast or dinner, it’s all about comfort food, Taber said. “It’s mainly Italian dishes at the Fairway. We pride ourselves on customization. We do our best to give customers what they want. And we don’t want customers to feel stressed about making a dining choice. Everything here is homemade. The chicken parm is hand-pounded. It’s all about homemade flavor here. Nothing comes from a can.”
Taber and his family also feel very strong about supporting the communities that have supported them. The restaurants and their staff are involved with a variety of fundraising events and community events, including those involving the Nauset Regional School District. Over the years, they raised over $150,000 for the Dana Farber Institute, as well.
Ken Taber
Not long ago, they named a donut for David Willard, a local businessman who had just ended a 50-year career with Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, and a portion of the funds raised from the sale of that donut went to support Lower Cape Outreach Council, which provides emergency food, clothing and financial support to residents of local towns. In the 30 days that this donut was available, Taber said 1,535 of them were sold.
Taber also said they are always looking for hard-working people to hire. “We don’t just hire based on skill,” he said. “You have to have a certain personality and mentality. The employees here see how hard the owners work, and that motivates them to work hard as well.” The three locations currently have 66 year-round employees and 90 during the summer season.
“If you could name one thing that makes a successful business,” Taber said, “it’s our customers, staff, managers and family. That’s what it comes down to. We know everyone who comes in here. It’s all about family, and that’s why it works. For more information, visit fairwaycapecod.com or theholecapecod.com.
“This is much bigger than us,” he said. “We don’t do this for the recognition or the awards. This family believes that if you give, the world will give back.”
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