For all those who have been devout followers of Fatto a Mano, don’t worry: The business isn’t closed, according to owner James Orlando, who just opened new pizza shop Mad Pie yesterday in Kakaʻako.
“This is just the next evolution of Fatto a Mano,” he says. “Fatto a Mano is not dead; it’s just on a hiatus right now. It will be coming back as a storefront, but as of right now, the evolution is Mad Pie, your friendly neighborhood pizza shop.”
Located behind Down to Earth (and in the former space of HICraft Kitchen), Mad Pie offers pizzas by the slice, whole pies, salads and sweets.
Like the pizzas at Fatto a Mano, the pies here are made from naturally leavened sourdough. To Orlando, sourdough is the right way to leaven things because “it adds character, flavor and charisma.”
“I wanted to show the community what sourdough is all about,” he says. “All of our dough is fermented for at least four to five days and a maximum of almost a week. I have a 10-year-old sourdough starter that I feed water and flour to every single day. That’s what leavens the dough; it gives you a healthy crust, it gives you a healthy life, and to me, it’s the right way to leaven all the dough.”
While Fatto a Mano featured seven full-time pies on the menu, Mad Pie’s menu is expanded. It absorbed the seven pizzas from Fatto a Mano, but features several new creations, according to Orlando.
“The additionals are buffalo chicken ranch, our White Iverson and our supreme pizza,” he says. “The white Iverson has a shredded mozzarella base, house pulled mozzarella, an onion jam, housemade ricotta and we’re going to hit it with a sesame seed crust. When it comes out (of the oven), we add some fresh chives and parsley.
“My personal favorite right now is the White Iverson, but I’m a pepperoni kid,” he says.
The menu features several red sauce-based pies, and several white sauce-based ones. The Iverson is designed with cheese lovers in mind — there’s a slight sweetness from the ricotta, and the sesame seeds give the crust a superb crunch, which contrasts nicely with the creamy mozzarella.
Pizzas are all 18 inches and they’re still made in a Neapolitan-style way, according to Orlando. It takes around 6 minutes for each one to bake.
While a supreme pizza might be considered a staple, Orlando didn’t have it on his menu until customers started asking for it.
“When you go to Costco, everyone wants the supreme pizza,” he says. “This has got our tomato sauce, housemade beef and pork sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, olives, red onions and sweet and spicy peppers.”
The Fungho ($32) has been a crowd favorite at Fatto a Mano. This pie features a mushroom bechamel base with the eatery’s mozzarella blend, which is shredded whole milk mozzarella and a housemade mozzarella, according to Orlando.
“We hand-pull all the mozzarella, let it dry overnight in the fridge, and we cut it by hand,” he says. “We’ve got local mushrooms by Small Kine Farm, and we’ve got housemade garlic herb ricotta. When it comes out of the oven, we’re going to hit it with some nice herbs.”
The Toby ($31), named after Orlando’s dad, is another fun creation. It features a housemade pesto base, whole milk mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese and local cherry tomatoes. When it comes out of the oven, kale and truffle balsamic are added on top.
When it comes naming the pizzas, Orlando tried to think of something that’s “fun, relatable and energetic.” The flavor combos are based on his personal favorites.
“Every time I travel or when I’m home alone, thinking about pizza 24/7, I think to myself, ‘What would go well on pizza?’” he says. “Every time I go out to a restaurant and it’s not pizza and I eat a dish, my brain works like Tony Stark. ‘How do I take this dish apart and reconstruct it on a pizza?’”
Having a storefront has been a longtime dream for Orlando, who has worked in the food industry since he was 14 years old. He grew up in South Dakota and moved to the Big Island in high school, and later, moved to Oʻahu.
He recalls his first job, at 14 years old in South Dakota, was making pizzas at a hotel for room service.
“It was frozen dough; everything came from a bag or a can,” Orlando says. “I loved the art of making it, putting it in the oven, the ticket machine, people’s combinations that they wanted. To me, pizza is written in an obsolete vernacular. It’s just so open and there’s no more structure to pizza. Anything can be labeled a pizza now, and I love that idea.”
When he started working at a bakery in his earlier 20s, Orlando fell in love with “the art and science of flour and water.”
“I worked at Baker Dudes for three or four years of my career, and that’s where I learned a lot of the art of baking and the technique and skill, which I’m very grateful for,” he says.
Orlando says he’s been doing the farmers markets on Oʻahu for more than a decade — three years with the bakery, and seven years with Fatto a Mano. When he created Fatto a Mano, Orlando remembers building a business portfolio of his “pizza vision.”
“This was always the dream, the passion and the vision,” he says. “I’ve always wanted a wood fired concept, a slice shop concept and the third evolution would be a pasta restaurant — to have all three to complete my Thanos stones of a restaurateur.”
As for that pasta shop: “It’s probably not coming for another decade,” Orlando says. “I’m most excited for the air conditioning in here. I’ve been a mobile business for so long at the farmers’ markets. I’m excited to be in four walls with a super talented crew.”
If you want to take your pizzas to the next level, Orlando recommends adding some of the eatery’s ranch sauces.
“I’m a white dude from South Dakota, so ranch is in my DNA, it’s in my blood,” he says. “We’re doing a ranch program here; it’s all housemade from scratch.”
Choose from house buttermilk ranch, kimchi ranch or charred jalapeno lime ranch ($2.50 each). Or, you can get a flight of three ranch sauces ($7).
“Our house buttermilk ranch has nine things in it; nothing dried, fresh local herbs,” Orlando says. “The kimchi ranch is perfect for crust. Our charred jalapeno and lime ranch is a different take on a poblano crème. There’s a little spice to it; we leave the seeds on there.”
Mad Pie also offers two salads; choose from Caesar ($14) or an Italian salad ($17). At the eatery’s media event, we tried samples of each. The Caesar comprises MA‘O Romaine, house Caesar dressing, shaved Parmesan and sourdough crouton dust. You can add chicken for an additional cost ($3.50).
Meanwhile, the Italian salad includes MA‘O sassy salad, creamy Italian vinaigrette, fresh mozzarella, cannellini beans, red onions, pepperoncinis, soppressata and Kalamata olives.
When customers dine in, they won’t simply be given a number for their order. Instead, Orlando pulls down several vintage trophies from a shelf; he bought them off eBay for this very purpose, he says.
“When you come into Mad Pie and you order for here, we’re going to give you this vintage trophy,” he says. “There’s so many different types with a number on it. This is going to be placed on the table and how we bring your pizza to you. I’ve had this idea since I was in high school and I wanted to open up a pizza shop.”
Be sure to save room for dessert. The biz offers housemade chocolate chip cookies with roasted pistachios ($3.50), along with cannolis ($4 each, two for $7).
“I am Italian and my favorite sweet treats contain pistachios,” Orlando says. “We’re going to do a monthly different type of cookie and a monthly cannoli (flavor).”
The current cannoli filling features chocolate chips. The cannolis are generously stuffed, and the cookies boast slightly crispy edges and a soft, chewy center.
When asked how he came up with the restaurant name, Orlando laughs.
“Because my life is mad crazy and mad busy; I thought it was a dope name,” he says. “I love the slogan, ‘It’s your friendly neighborhood pizza shop.’ I go to New York once or twice a year, and pizza is so involved in the community in New York City. Everyone has their own community neighborhood slice shop that they go to.”
Mad Pie currently has limited hours; see the business's Instagram for updates.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
CONTACT
Mad Pie
516 Keawe St., Honolulu
Instagram: @madpie_hi
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
