Onda Pasta pops up for dinner

In recent years, our experience of Italian cuisine has been via the hands of chefs from Japan. So it was a refreshing change of pace to wander into Taste the past two Wednesdays, where Andrea Onetti of Onda Pasta was cooking up some of the dishes he grew up with in Rome.

He and his wife, Jessica, have already been offering their hand-made fresh pastas — combining high-quality flour imported from Italy and Hawaiian eggs and produce — at the Ala Moana Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, and the Waimea Valley Farmers Market from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

Taste offered the couple the opportunity to show how those pastas cook up with their sauces, including a fiery puttanesca accompanying disc-shaped Roman gnocchi, Bolognese made with Oahu grass-fed beef, classic pomodoro, and tagliatelle with Waimanalo cremini, on plates priced at $10 to $13.

Their popularity during last month’s test run has resulted in a decision to begin dinner service from 6 to 10 p.m. March 13, and every other Wednesday in the near future. It’s worth checking out.

The Onda Pasta pop-up at Taste is at 667 Auahi St. Call 321-7630.

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