Onda Pasta is Back, Making Fresh Pasta in Honolulu

At the Kaka‘ako Farmers Market, try a prepared plate or pick up one of the varieties of fresh pasta to take home.

October 14, 2019

Martha Cheng,

Photos: Martha Cheng

When Andrea Onetti of Onda Pasta left Honolulu in 2017, he left a pasta-shaped hole in our lives. But after helping develop pizza and pasta recipes for a friend’s restaurant in Rome, Piccolo Buco (Italian for “small hole”), as well as working in spots around Seattle, Onetti is now back in Honolulu, serving and selling pasta at farmers markets. At a recent Saturday Kaka‘ako Farmers Market, he and his father, who splits his time among Rome, Honolulu and other places (#livingthedream), were selling fresh pasta to take home and cook. Shapes included a wide, flat tagliatelle; ridged, tube-shaped rigatoni; and a green spaghetti made with spinach (all $8 for 8 ounces). And at the market, Onetti was cooking up pastas on the spot, such as breakfast gnocchi sauteed in brown butter with MA‘O arugula and Portuguese sausage, topped with a fried egg ($12); spaghetti al ragu ($10); and spaghetti in a (vegan) zucchini cream ($10).

Photos: Martha Cheng

Onetti, who is originally from Rome, near Termini station, says that since closing Onda Pasta, he “always thought about reopening because even after almost two years, I had people asking me for fresh pasta.” So when he returned to Honolulu to be close to his daughter, reopening Onda Pasta was practically a given.

“Life is a combination of pasta and magic,” reads a Federico Fellini quote written on Onda Pasta’s menu. With Onda Pasta back, we have a little more pasta and magic in our lives.

Onda Pasta at Kaka‘ako Farmers Markets Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings and Kailua Farmers Markets Thursday evening and Sunday mornings.

Join us at Kahala Mall on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019 from 4 to 9 p.m. for our first-ever Burger Bash—a free event celebrating all things burgers. We’ve rounded up some of our favorites including The Butcher & Bird, Smith and Kings, Square Barrels, Burgers & Burritos Hawai‘i and more. Stay tuned for more details.