Grindstone Coffee & Donuts has been serving up the freshest donuts and coffee in the Hamptons since 2016 when owner Kyle Sanderson founded the Sag Harbor establishment at 74 Main Street. He grew up working in the service industry with dozens of café and restaurant jobs from his teenage years into his twenties. His parents ran restaurants as well, so he felt this was a likely direction to eventually be a restauranteur himself.
The biggest piece of advice that eventually led Kyle to open Grindstone was from his parents. He said that he was determining what direction he wanted to go in life when they told him, “Figure out what you would be doing if you weren’t working, and do that.” Kyle says, “At the time my favorite place to hang out was at my local coffee shop, and when I moved to the Hamptons [from Cleveland], I really missed it. So that’s what I settled on.”
Kyle was not initially looking to open a café in Sag Harbor. He says, “I had been looking in East Hampton for a year because they only have a Starbucks for coffee. The space in Sag became available, and while it was a great spot, I knew I’d have to do something that would set us apart from the existing coffee shops in the area. That’s where the donuts came in.”
Grindstone has become a staple in the Hamptons, locals and part-timers alike frequent the spot for their fresh, high-quality donuts and specialty coffee creations. Kyle says, “Everyone knows about our donuts, but people are always surprised to find out we have arguably the best coffee in the Hamptons, and EASILY the best customer service in the area. Almost everyone who works here has been here from the start.”
The donut process is laborious and thorough at Grindstone, and perhaps irreplicable due to how many steps go into their dough creation alone with their donuts taking a minimum of 48 hours to create from start to finish. They make the dough in large batches that each produces approximately 300 donuts. The ingredients used at Grindstone are of the highest quality, just a couple of which are European style 83% butterfat Butter and King Arthur flour. Kyle explained that after the dough is made, they then allow it to ferment for 24 hours, where thereafter it is brought to the shop to be cut, rolled, and let to rest for another full day. He says, “This process gives our donuts a yeasty, sourdough-like flavor.”
Once these brioche and cake donuts are cooked to a golden and buttery perfection, they are then completed with house-made glazes and fillings. Many of these sugary glazes and sweet jelly fillings used at Grindstone are made from local and seasonal fruit like their signature berry creations. Every step of the process is completed with the utmost attention to detail when it comes to ingredients used!
Grindstone has a cozy and welcoming atmosphere that customers always appreciate. Kyle noted, “We’re not pretentious and we don’t take anything too seriously. We have an amazing base of year-round customers, as well as yearly summer regulars that we’re always excited to see when they come back in town. It’s a really interesting dynamic.” Most of the employees are old friends or family members from Cleveland where Kyle is originally from. He says, “We have that whole ‘Midwest Charm’ thing. I get comments on how we have such an amazing staff every time someone catches me up front.”
Another thing that sets Grindstone apart from so many other establishments in the area is not just that they are open year-round in a seasonal destination, but they are open every day—even on Christmas. They offer seasonal items and also create holiday-themed donuts. Their most popular donut in the summer is the passionfruit coconut flavor, and in the fall they make apple fritters and apple cider donuts. Kyle says they are definitely known for their Nutella s’mores, but that the staff favorite will always be the maple sea salt. Grindstone is also well-known for their coffee menu items, with their honey lavender latte being especially popular. They even offer a homemade almond milk that customers love.
Kyle says, “As far as how we decide on items, we have always just tried to do new things and gauge the reaction. A lot of times things won’t catch people’s attention, so we tweak it or move on. It’s gotten pretty refined at this point. Most of our donuts are permanent staples.”
They are currently working on a selection of cookies that the staff is eager to release. Kyle noted, “It just seems to be another thing missing from Sag Harbor that we’d like to provide.” Grindstone has evolved in so many ways from their efficiency in creating the donuts, limiting waste, coffee roasting, and always striving to offer more options to their customers. They created shippable donut kits that are available to be shipped nationwide, and they have some other exciting upcoming projects like working with a franchise company so they can look into Grindstone locations on the rest of Long Island.
When Kyle isn’t serving up scrumptious donuts and freshly roasted coffee to the Hamptons crowds, he’s out enjoying the nature the East End has to offer. Some of his favorite activities are going on bike trails in Springs with his daughter, hiking around Camp Hero in the winter, and especially being able to enjoy the off-season quiet. He says, “In the summer, I prefer the winter, and in the winter, I prefer the summer. It’s been difficult navigating the ‘feast or famine’ nature of doing business in a seasonal area, but we get better at it every year.” He went on to mention, “Honestly the best time of year, and I know most locals would agree with me, is the fall. All of the businesses are flush with cash, everyone is happy, most of the summer businesses are still open, but the crowds have mostly died down. It’s really the Goldilocks season of the Hamptons. Oh but to answer the question of contrast, we do about half of our yearly business in June, July, and August. So yeah, it’s intense.”
The experience at Grindstone Coffee & Donuts is truly like no other, and one that will not disappoint. Head over to the heart of Sag Harbor for a fresh and dense, doughy donut with a plethora of flavors to choose from. And don’t forget to enjoy it with a satisfyingly brewed organic coffee from their full menu of espresso, drip, and cold brew options. Stay tuned for their exciting future endeavors!
To learn more about Grindstone Coffee & Donuts, visit https://grindstonedonuts.com.
