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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by the Battleship Missouri Memorial honoring 250 years of military service at a Veterans Day sunset ceremony. "Amazing Grace performed by the Celtic Pipes and Drums of Hawai‘i."

To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

25 11 12 Missouri Memorial

<title>Hawai'i Skies: A Veterans Day sunset ceremony</title>

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by the Battleship Missouri Memorial honoring 250 years of military service at a Veterans Day sunset ceremony.

Hawai'i Skies: A Veterans Day sunset ceremony

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by the Battleship Missouri Memorial honoring 250 years of military service at a Veterans Day sunset ceremony. "Amazing Grace performed by the Celtic Pipes and Drums of Hawai‘i." To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us online or email: general@alohastatedaily.com For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

As the younger sister of worldwide softball star Jocelyn Alo, Sophia Alo grew up surrounded by excellence. While Jocelyn was meticulously honing her perfect swing, Sophia was eager to get her own journey in the sport started. 

After graduating from Campbell in 2017, Jocelyn Alo went on to star at the University of Oklahoma from 2018 to 2022, winning two national championships while becoming the NCAA's all-time home runs leader with 122. 

"She raised the family's bar for greatness. I love living up to that every day," Sophia Alo told Aloha State Daily on Wednesday morning. "People think it's hard living up to it. I love the challenge. It's amazing to have a sister that's recognized, and she's made it easier for me, because now I don't have to go through the struggle [alone], because she understands the struggle, and she can relate to me on that and just be there for me as my sister, my teammate, my coach sometimes too, but I don't like listening." 

On Wednesday morning, as part of a signing day ceremony at the Sheraton Beach Resort in Waikīkī, Sophia Alo's time to sign with a school arrived. The Campbell senior signed with the University of Texas at San Antonio on a softball scholarship, relieved that the recruiting process is over as well as excited to forge her own path at a new school. 

"I'm very relieved because I don't have to worry about applying to college. I'm just so relieved that this part of my process is done so I can just finish my season and graduate, and I can get started," she said. "I love it because it's the start of my journey, and I can't wait to see where this takes me as a player and a person. I can't wait for my senior year and I can't wait for my freshman year. It's so exciting, and I'm so happy."

During Jocelyn Alo's career at Oklahoma, each home run provided more inspiration to youth around the country hoping to make it big in the sport. Count Mililani senior 

Jerrell "Ori" Mailo as one of her fans. Mailo, one of the country's top sluggers, will enroll at Oklahoma in January to get a head start on her collegiate career. 

"I watched Jocelyn all the way through her junior year (at Campbell). Then I saw her go off to Oklahoma, and it just became a dream from there," Mailo said of playing for the Sooners. "It was a feeling of relief being able to know that my parents wouldn't have to pay for me to go to college, and the fact that it was my dream school, it's just a surreal moment."

When Mailo joins the Sooners, she'll be joined by Nelly McEnroe-Marinas and Ailana 

 as other Hawai‘i natives on the OU roster. 

Enrolling in January means Mailo will skip her senior season of softball at Mililani, 

winners of two straight HHSAA Division I state titles

"It was an emotional decision, but we knew that since softball was what I wanted to pursue, we knew that there was sacrifices to be made, and we made them," Mailo said. 

Local athletes in baseball, basketball, softball, indoor and beach volleyball, cross country, track, golf, swimming and water polo all signed with their future schools. 

A common theme that arose among the diamond sports signees on Wednesday, in addition to Sophia Alo, were multiple athletes that came from prominent families in the sport. 

Punahou senior Kahaku Harrison signed with Rice University, following his father and brothers on the path to big-time baseball. His father, Kenny, played collegiately for the University of Hawai‘i before a brief stint in the minor leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. 

Kahaku's brother, KJ, starred at Oregon State from 2014 to 2017 before six seasons in the minor leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals organization. Another brother, Kalae Harrison, played for Texas A&M and North Carolina State before three seasons in the minor leagues with the Pirates from 2023 to 2025. Meanwhile, Kaikea Harrison is entering his senior season at Tulane in 2026. 

"Super valuable," Kahaku Harrison said of leaning on his family for advice. "Super grateful and thankful for it, because having them as my mentors and having them by my side through all of this, it's so valuable and so key. It just makes this whole process so much easier. It's really nice just having my brothers throughout all of this."

University Lab School senior Alika Ahu, a 6-foot-4 shortstop, signed with Stanford. While he's considered a legitimate prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft and could go straight to the pros out of high school, signing with the Cardinal went from a pipe dream to a dream come true.

"It's always been a far off dream that you never thought would happen," Ahu said. "I guess it's always been my mom's dream, of course. And then the summer going into my junior year, the call came and they offered me a full scholarship."

Ahu's father, Jamie, was a former baseball player at the University of Hawai‘i. So, too, is Matt Inouye, whose son, Kaiser senior Hayzen Inouye, signed with Cal Poly on Wednesday at the same ceremony. 

Signing Day 111225

<title>Local athletes take unique paths to signing day</title>

A signing day ceremony was held on Wednesday morning for high school seniors signing with their future colleges in a bevy of sports.

Local athletes take unique paths to signing day

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Government & Politics

Business & Tourism

Getting to and from Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve just got easier for out-of-state visitors.

A new contract between the City and County of Honolulu and Roberts Hawai‘i streamlines the journey to the popular snorkeling spot, packaging transportation, entry and an educational video, while also freeing up space in the public parking lot.

The new online admission options now allow visitors to reserve their Hanauma Bay excursions a month in advance, the city said in a recent announcement. The packages include roundtrip transportation from several spots in Ala Moana and Waikīkī as well as entry into the bay.

During the bus ride, visitors will be shown a 10-minute educational video, which is required viewing for everyone entering the nature preserve.

Advanced reservations can be made on the 

 websites. A portion of these packages also will include tickets to the Honolulu Zoo.

(ICYMI: The Honolulu Zoo has also recently launched a new online ticketing system. Read about that 

According to the city, 400 tickets will be available daily through the new advanced ticketing option, while adjustments will be made to the existing ticketing system to keep daily attendance around 1,400 people.

? You can still make those two days in advance.

Residents, though, can still get in free, without payment or reservation required. Only a $1 parking fee is applicable to locals for a space within the 280-stall parking lot, which was 

Laura Thielen, director of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, said in the announcement that the idea came from the Hanauma Bay Steering Committee and progressed with the help of preserve staff and partners in the city’s departments of Enterprise Services, Information Technology and Office of Economic Revitalization.

“This effort aligns with Hanauma Bay’s goal of balancing the recreational and cultural needs of the community with the education and preservation mandates of this wahi pana (storied place),” she says.

“We’re proud to collaborate with the City and County of Honolulu to make Hanauma Bay more accessible while preserving its natural beauty," 

JoAnn Erban, vice president of sales and marketing for Roberts Hawai‘i, said in the announcement.

 "As a locally owned, employee-owned company, we’re deeply committed to caring for our island home. By providing eco-friendly transportation and the convenience of advance booking, we’re helping guests enjoy a seamless, responsible experience at one of Hawai‘i’s most beloved and culturally rich destinations.”

It's not immediately known how many people have already used the new options.

The lava flows that created the Hanauma Bay region began about 

, while the bay itself was created about 32,000 years ago "in a violent series of explosions" that occurred after a volcanic vent opened underwater.

Today, DPR maintains the land portion of the preserve, while the state Department of Land and Natural Resources oversees the ocean.

Once a favorite fishing spot for Hawaiian royalty, Hanauma Bay was designated as Hawai‘i's first Marine Life Conservation District in 1967, 

The number of visitors peaked in the 1970s and 1980s at an estimated 10,000 people per day, but a management plan put into place in 1990 helped mitigate the impact, the site notes.

In 2019 — before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 closed the preserve for nearly eight months — nearly 3,000 people attended each day for a total of nearly 845,000 visitors that year.

The city says there were 400,776 visits to Hanauma Bay in 2024. You can find last year's attendance numbers 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Hanauma Bay PANO reverse

<title>Honolulu, Roberts Hawai‘i aim to improve access to Hanauma Bay</title>

A new contract between the city and Roberts Hawai‘i packages transportation to and from the popular snorkel spot, entry and an educational video.

Honolulu, Roberts Hawai‘i aim to improve access to Hanauma Bay

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Columnists

[{"type":"text","text":"The immigration debate has an emotional and by contrast a logical side."}]

The emotional aspect is rather simple. There are those combatting oppression and even dangers at the hands of their own countries. Escaping from those harrowing life situations are to be supported and escapees searching for a better life welcomed.

The desire to create a better life through opportunity and freedom resonates with virtually all. The beacon for such a life has been and remains the United State of America.

The pragmatic side simply says we are a nation of laws, and our immigration laws state that in order to be a resident or an eventual citizen you must comply with said laws. If you do not, you are not allowed to enter and remain. If you do enter and remain via violation of immigration law, you are subject to enforcement of aforementioned laws and could face arrest or deportation.

[{"type":"text","text":"That is pretty cut and dry."}]

That is until certain politicians, organizations, and individuals determine that laws do not apply to them. The rationale is that the laws are unfair, punitive, in violation of the spirit of America and the etchings on the Statue of Liberty.

[{"type":"text","text":"Really, you're going to bring the Statue of Liberty into this?"}]

The words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty are invoked as justification for open border immigration policy.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

These words originate from the poem, “The New Colossus,” by American Poet Emma Lazarus in 1883. Among the motivations behind this piece was to finance the construction of the pedestal on which Lady Liberty stands.

This is not a governing policy statement nor a statute or law. It is an expression of poetic idealism. However, these words and these sentiments are often invoked as the definitive and binding position regarding immigration policy.

This exemplifies the emotions surrounding immigration. Paraphrasing, who wouldn’t want to accommodate the tired, poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free? Then again, who wouldn’t want to save every puppy in the Humane Society? Idealism is like eating soup with a fork. You really want the soup, but you need a spoon, and that spoon is the rule of law. It's not perfect, but it works.

The immigration debate resonates here at home in the 50th state. Yes, a reminder. We are part of the United States of America.

There have been protests and condemnations of recent enforcement of immigration laws and executive orders. Many lament the arrests and possible deportations of illegals residing in Hawai‘i.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Very emotional."}]

Pragmatism dictates if you do not want to incur pain and disruption, then do not break the law. Legal immigration and naturalization are available to virtually all. Like the millions who have in the past become US citizens, one can do the same. Entering and remaining in America illegally already determines you are not fit for citizenship. Your blatant denial of existing laws indicates a disrespect of our country and your drive for self-centered gains at the expense of others.

[{"type":"text","text":"Just consider the cases here in Hawai‘i."}]

Recently there were 44 arrests of undocumented suspects by ICE agents on Kaua‘i, a Marshallese citizen arrested for felonies including kidnapping and terroristic threatening and another illegal arrested with a long state criminal history including DWI, domestic abuse and possession of firearms and ammo. Two of these arrestees 

 had links to the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. There is a myriad of other similar or worse stories around the country and here at home.

[{"type":"text","text":"One additional point."}]

What of the victims of crimes committed by illegals in our country, our state and our cities? The violations perpetrated against innocent American citizens bringing pain, loss and even more. None of this would have happened if the illegal immigrant criminals were never here. Where is the thoughtful consideration for them and their families?

[{"type":"text","text":"Finally, the emotional and logical sides meet."}]

I Stock 2174552697

<title>Hamada: Weighing emotions versus pragmatism on illegal immigration</title>

Feelings to the contrary aside, nothing about the enforcement of immigration law contradicts America's ideals as a place the welcomes newcomers or that helps people escape oppression.

Hamada: Weighing emotions versus pragmatism on illegal immigration

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

, knew she wanted to specialize in a unique dessert when she first started her business in 2020.

“I’m an immigrant; I came here because of my husband,” says Smith, who is originally from Colombia. “I wanted to do something very unique that is hard to find. I decided to start with alfajores, which is a cookie that comes from South America. It’s originally from Argentina, but it’s found in all of South America — Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil.”

The dessert features two crumbly, shortbread-like cookies sandwiched together with a sweet filling — and for Smith, that’s dulce de leche.

“This (our alfajores) melts in your mouth,” she says. “It’s super soft, and it comes with our dulce de leche, which is the milky caramel.

“Dulce de leche is the main flavor in South America,” she adds. “That’s why pretty much everything I make has dulce de leche. We can make it (alfajores) with different flavors, but our signature is dulce de leche.”

Aloha Alfajores officially opened in June 2020, and Smith rented out various kitchens. Customers often direct message the business on Instagram to order, or they order online.

Since starting her business, the menu has expanded to include dulce de leche brownies — a blend of chocolate, caramel and cheesecake — crème brulees and frescas con cremas. The latter features a combination of strawberries and cream with layers of alfajores.

“They have the cookie crust as the shell, and a little touch of dulce de leche,” Smith says. “We also have our rice pudding, which is a very Latin American dessert; our frescas con cremas has alfajores inside.”

While renting out kitchen spaces, Smith was looking for her own commercial kitchen. She says she started the search a long time ago, but remembers feeling discouraged.

“It got to a point where I was going to give up and sell my business,” she says. “The day I got two people interested in my business, I felt something in my heart … something was telling me not to sell it.”

Smith resumed her hunt for a kitchen space and started looking up possibilities on Facebook Marketplace. That’s when her current space on Mango Avenue in Wahiawa popped up.

“I found two locations — one in town, and this one — and I talked to the guy here,” Smith says. “He was like, ‘Just come and see it,’ and it happened within a week. I was like, ‘OK, if it’s going this way, it’s meant to be.’”

Smith clarifies that the commercial kitchen space is not a café or storefront — yet — but it’s a step in that direction.

“It’s mostly our production place,” she says. “We produce for events, for distribution, and for people that want to come by. Hopefully, if everything goes well and I get more of a budget, I can design it better—I would like to have a little place where people can sit.”

Besides the packaged desserts at her kitchen, Aloha Alfajores is at Ala Moana Center on most Saturdays (Mauka wing second floor, near Target) and her products are distributed at retailers like Mari’s Garden, Taqueria el Ranchero, and Teapresso’s Ewa Beach and Keeaumoku stores.

“We also do shipping nationwide; we have a special box of cookies,” Smith says.

As her business celebrated its five-year milestone and Smith looks ahead to 2026, she says she is hoping to further establish her business’s new kitchen location and expand its distribution locations.

“Our business is very unique; it’s something that’s hard to find somewhere else,” she says. “This is a place where people can come and get something completely different.

“Business owners — or anyone — don’t give up,” she adds. “Keep going and following your dreams, even though it can be hard.”

Kitchen space open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, Saturdays 

Limited parking available in front of the business; street parking also available

Aloha Alfajores business owner 103125

<title>Aloha Alfajores opened a new kitchen space</title>

The business, which started in 2020, officially has its own commercial kitchen space in Wahiawa. Besides its signature alfajores, the biz offers dulce de leche brownies, crème brulee and frescas con cremas.

Aloha Alfajores opened a new kitchen space

Real Estate

Kamehameha Schools has sold its remaining interest in the Royal Hawaiian hotel, selling the lease fee landholdings under the iconic pink oceanfront resort to Japan-based Daisho Co. for $510 million.

The transaction closed Nov. 6, KS said in an 

According to KS, the property will continue to be held and operated under its current long-term ground lease to 

Daisho Co. is a private, family-owned company with hospitality holdings in Asia and the Pacific, KS noted. This is the company’s first commercial venture in the Islands.

, KS says it manages its portfolio as one that “evolves to meet the needs of the trust and the Native Hawaiian community.”

“In a globally competitive market, Ke Kula ‘o Kamehameha must manage Pauahi’s portfolio with care and strategy, mindful of how best to position our ‘āina to serve the evolving needs of our lāhui, both today and for generations to come,” the announcement states. “This means sometimes acquiring ‘āina, sometimes restoring it, and at times, when conditions call for change, releasing lands so their value can further the mission in new ways.”

KS sold the buildings and improvements at the neighboring Royal Hawaiian Center in 2014 — you can read more 

 — but said in the Nov. 7 announcement it is “not presently considering a sale” of its remaining interest in the lands underneath the shopping center.

Crystal Rose, chair of the KS Board of Trustees, said in the announcement that the trust only sells land “after much deep and agonizing consideration.”

“Our kuleana is to steward a dynamic portfolio that best serves our trust. At the same time, we know that our lands carry historical significance, especially this one, which our founder and generations of ali‘i before her had nurtured,” she says.

KS CEO Jack Wong said in the announcement that in the coming months, KS will meet with its school communities, alumni and lāhui to discuss and better explain its changing role as a landowner.

Dubbed the “Pink Palace of the Pacific,” what’s now called the Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, Waikīkī, opened nearly a century ago on Feb. 1, 1927, and was built for $4 million by the Matson Navigation Co., as a “luxurious resort for Matson passengers,” a 

Following the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy recreation and morale office leased the Royal Hawaiian, “transforming the resort into a major rest and relaxation center for Navy personnel,” the site reads. “The resort was restored to its pre-war elegance in 1947.”

KS is one of the largest landowners in the state, according to the 

, ranking third behind the state and federal government with more than 373,000 acres.

In August 2024, KS announced it would pay a total of $872.5 million as part of a $4 billion global settlement in the wake of the 2023 Maui wildfires. Read more about that 

It’s also gearing up for another legal battle: Virginia-based nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions recently filed a 

Royal hawaiian unsplash

<title>Kamehameha Schools sells land under Royal Hawaiian for $510M</title>

Japan-based Daisho Co. is now the fee-simple owner. The property, however, will continue to be held and operated under its current long-term ground lease to Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts, KS says.

Kamehameha Schools sells land under Royal Hawaiian for $510M

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 

“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 O

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.

’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.

[{"type":"text","text":"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 

Mad Pie chef James Orlando 2 082525

<title>Mad Pie is Kakaʻako’s new 'friendly neighborhood pizza shop'</title>

Owned by James Orlando from Fatto a Mano, Mad Pie features an extended menu of pizzas — made from naturally leavened sourdough — along with salads, cookies and cannolis.

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Hawai'i Skies: A Veterans Day sunset ceremony

Authors

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