GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STAR-BULLETIN.COM Punk band 86 List will play at Ottocake bakery tomorrow. Otto, at left, is Ottocake's baker and the band's bassist. His bandmates are Josh Hancock, center, and Sean Tasaki.

‘Otto’-matic
cheesecake

Ottocake blows out 11 candles
with a triple show of punk rock

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By Shawn 'Speedy' Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.com

Bassist, baker, cheesecake maker. For more than a decade, Honolulu's punk rock renaissance man Otto (no last name, please) has served up the city's tastiest cheesecake in the loudest flavors imaginable. Just ask Honolulu Magazine who, in 2001, deemed Otto's creamy treat "Honolulu's Best Cheesecake."

This weekend, local audiences are invited to sample some of Otto's popular baked goods and take in a triple bill of homegrown punk rock at his airport-area bakery. The event will mark the 11th year of Ottocake, his bakery service.

The story begins years ago when Otto began browsing through local book stores in search of a great, no-frills cheesecake recipe. The idea was to bake a cheesecake for his mother, a longtime devotee of the delectable dessert.

"My cheesecake is so simple, it's scary," he reveals. "I refused to listen to all the things they said you had to do to make cheesecake. I thought, 'It's got to be simpler than this.' There were, like, 20 different points to remember and I threw them out and I kept four."

Later, at a potluck party, Otto's rudimentary cheesecake piqued the tastebuds of the owners of the former Java Java Cafe, who became his first customers. Soon after, the cafe's competition came calling and Ottocake was born. In October 1997, Otto opened his first bakery on Ualena Street.

"I was really scared," he admits. "I just saw it in the paper one day: 'Bakery for cheap' and I called. The rent was pretty cheap, but it was a lot of money because of what I put into the bakery. I have an oven, a three-compartment sink, refrigeration, mixers, storage containers, pans, everything."

He now serves a variety of clients, including Mocha Java Cafe, the Coffee Factory and Muddy Waters Espresso in Kailua. While many local mom-and-pop coffee shops -- which make up a good portion of Ottocake's clientele -- were supplanted in recent years by larger chains, Otto says business is steady. He now offers 70 flavors of cheesecake, along with brownies, carrot cake, biscotti, cookies and pineapple pie (which recently claimed second prize at the Hawaii State Farm Fair). In between all the baking, Otto's managed to promote underground rock shows and perform in punk combos like the Sticklers and The 86 List, plus playing the glam lead in a couple of local productions of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

While on a tour stop in Honolulu several years ago, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong received a key lime cheesecake for his birthday from Ottocake.

"He thanked me for the cake and made some joke about it being green," remembers Otto, who says his crowning achievement was creating a 4-foot tall cake for the final performance of local ska ensemble Tantra Monsters.

"I knew they couldn't even eat it all, but it was so cool to do, you know?"

This weekend's anniversary show, he notes, will feature bands whose members have had a hand in Ottocake's operations -- dishwashers and janitors included. Weather permitting, of course.

"Your 10th Anniversary is supposed to be special," he says. "But it got rained out last year, so we'll try again this Saturday."

Ottocake 11th Anniversary Show featuring The 86 List, Ex-Superheroes and Postmodern Where: Ottocake Bakery, 2928 Ualena St. When: 6 p.m. tomorrow Admission: $5

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