In June 1882, the British sailing ship Monarch brought Arsenio and Amelia DoRego from San Miguel Island, Portugal, to Maui, Hawaii, under contract to work in the sugar cane fields. Thirty-three years later, their grandson Leonard was born. In 1946, Leonard and his wife Margaret moved to Honolulu with their 8-year-old daughter Diane. Leonard worked at Snowflake Bakery until he founded Leonard's Bakery℠ in 1952.
Leonard and Margaret, both from large families, were no strangers to hard work. The bakery prospered, and shortly after opening, Leonard's mother suggested making malasadas for Shrove Tuesday—a Portuguese tradition. Although Leonard initially thought it might be too ethnic, his bakers complied. The malasadas became a huge hit, and the appetite for malasadas in Hawaii was born.
