UYE Downtown Lunch Bunch @ Cafe VIII 1/2

I don’t like integers either. Along with Harry Potter platforms and Lion King Movies, this café breaks all naming convention with their unusual affinity with non-​whole numbers.
Numerical preference aside, the food here is spectacular. Thank you to all the wonderful Unilocalers and non-​yelpers who proved to me that UYEs have solid attendance.
Part art gallery, part eclectic restaurant, this husband and wife tag team runs a very popular downtown eatery on Alakea next to Mandalay Chinese. My favorite piece of art in here is the door placed inside the restaurant that reads «I see a red door and I want to paint it black». Oddly enough, the red door is almost completely painted… black.
We ordered the panzanella, steak sandwich (turns out manzo is their steak sandwich– their beef stew that we thought we ordered was also manzo oh well) carbonara, and gnocchi. All very good. Despite being packed for the usual lunch crowd, our food came our quickly and was delicious!
I really liked the gnocchi, very tender without the over-​processed firmness you get with store bought or frozen varieties. I believe it came with a steak. Who can complain? I wish a steak came with everything I ordered.
The carbonara was its rich bacon-​y, pancetta-​y self. Always a good sign. The panzanella was nicely seasoned and came with romaine, olives, and cheese (gorgonzola?)
We will return. The question now stands, where next for downtown UYE?

This easily was the best lunch I’ve had in downtown!
I go to HPU and I am constantly racking my brain (and Unilocal app) to find new and better places to increase my caloric intake. Fort Street Mall is just another food court to me.
So when I saw this UYE was official, I pulled a Rebecca Black. We we so excited! We so excited!
I arrived early to make sure we had enough seats and found Mrs. Otto e Mezza (8 ½) furiously cleaning tables and preparing for the lunch time rush.
What she wasn’t prepared for was my request to hold 15 seats. I swear she probably did the unmentionable, and told me to ge lost. But when I asked if someone had called earlier, she told me Russ had reserved them.
Phew! Sigh of relief for both of us!
Everyone trickled in and we hummed and hawed over what to eat. We were just excited to be here, many for the first time.
Emi H and I shared the Panzanella Salad which is a platter of food art. Rustic whole pieces of romaine mix and mingle with tomatoes, onions, peppers, capers, this AHHHHHMAZING goat cheese, the best croutons in the world and a simple vinaigrette. $ 12
As I sat in the sauna at 24 fitness last night, I thought about it. Daydreamt about it. Fantasized about it. Mmmm. I mean deep fried croutons!!! Who does that?!! Only Chef Otto e Mezza.
For my main, I had the famous Radiatore Verde. Kiawe grilled steak over zucchini pesto pasta. A simply gorgeous dish that is just as delicious.
The ambiance of the place is quirky. Chef Otto e Mezza is a total artist and I love that about this place. Each of his dishes are masterpieces but when he rings that bell once. A second time. A third. My heart stops in anxiety to see what happens next.
Then all hell breaks loose in the kitchen starting with pans and dishes slamming. A little part of me wants to laugh. The other says to stay out of it. Just… stay out of it.
Ugh. I’m debating if I want to go back there again today. I’m obsessed!

I work from home and although I enjoy getting business done in my pajamas, it can get a little lonely sometimes. (Womp womp womp) Why? Well here’s an example:
Me: Hey! Guess what! I just got all these amazing food vendors to do this really cool Unilocal party!!!
(Silence)
Me: Woooo hoo! I’m so stoked because I had this amazing idea. Want to hear about it?
(Crickets)
Me: Ugh. Can I tell you about this crazy troll?!
(Air)
Yeah, it gets a little lonely sometimes. So when lunch time UYEs come up I get really excited! Yes, real working people! Yes, real Unilocal gossip! Yes, an exchange of thoughts and ideas. I am so there!
Café VIII ½ you’re freakin’ amazeballs. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular but our lunch was in fact, spectacular! Never mind that there are random drawings hanging from the ceiling or that they served their drinks in very classy plastic cups (heavy sarcasm), but this place is indeed legit! I ordered the bolognese pasta and I thought «Eh, it’s just pasta in meat sauce.» But it was so much more than that! It was a simple dish that I will come back for and think about at 2 am when I’m in a drunken stupor. Thomas O and I shared the panzanella salad which exceeded my expectations beyond words. Deep fried croutons, lettuce and a crazy good cheese that I wanted to put on my BF’s body and lick off. Okay, so maybe I just shared a little too much information.
Would it be bad to admit that I wanted to see the chef yell at his wife? Not that I believe in verbal abuse, but angry people fascinate me. The chef game out at the end of our meal and he is indeed an interesting character. He’s dark and stormy and artistic and I can’t wait to have some sort of conversation with him because his food kicks @ss! Looking forward to more downtown lunch bunch gatherings and more bowls of comfort food at Café VII ½! So much more fun than talking to air and crickets at home…
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #63/​365 (The Little Lonely Sometimes)