Chef-owner Ted Fulmer has had some trouble with ‘Pau,’ the name of his new bistro in Waimea. Customers have walked in the front door and announced, ‘The sign says you are closed!’ Others thought it was an announcement that the former restaurant in that space, Rafael’s, was ’so over’.

‘It is a short, meaningful, powerful word,’ Fulmer says about the name, ‘It could mean that the food here is quick and finished–ready to take home.’ He leans back in his chair and rubs his belly, ‘When my friends use ‘I’m all pau’ it means they are satisfied.’ Homonymous with ‘POW,’ the name could also describe how Pau has burst onto the scene with fresh, quick, ingredient-centered food at an affordable price.

Pau opened last November, and currently serves only lunch (with weekday dinners coming soon); they’re expecting to begin dinner service in April. The menu is small, which guarantees each item is fresh–only three salads, two sandwiches, the housemade Chicken Pot Pie, and five pizzas are on the printed menu. A chalkboard above the counter announces the specials each day with an entree, a special pizza, homemade soup, and an aguas frescas.

‘The specials allow me to be creative every day,’ Fulmer says, ‘I don’t get bored, and my regular customers don’t get bored.’

As I enter the screened front door one weekday lunchtime, a woman holds the door for me. ‘My kids said the pizza was the best they ever had,’ she states in a Midwestern accent, ‘And we are from Chicago!’ A quick glance across the counter into the kitchen reveals the chef rolling out a new batch of house-made pizza dough. Five different whole pizzas are available on the menu, and a special pizza-of-the-day is served by the slice. Whole raw pizzas are also ready to take home and heat.

The ‘Il Pollo’ comes with tender cubes of roasted chicken, globs of goat cheese, and a generous sprinkling of black olives top mozzarella cheese and a sparse tomato sauce over the bubbling house-made pizza dough. The whole pizzas range from $17 to $25, but are large compared to other pizza vendors in the area. The pizza dough is tender and chewy, stretched thin and flat in the traditional Italian style. Salty bursts of goat cheese and pungent black olives compliment the tender cubes of chicken in this innovative pizza. The other pizzas on the menu are equally creative, and if that wasn’t enough, There is a menu option to create your own pizza. Pau will even deliver a pizza to you (with a few stipulations–call for information)!

Business has been rising steadily, with no advertising beyond word of mouth.

‘Each week business has increased 20-25 percent,’ Fulmer says, ‘With about 50 percent of the business take-out. There are about a hundred hard-core regulars, many who eat lunch here every day.’ With a fresh, light menu stressing local produce, and a creative specials menu, Pau is catering to a working lunchtime clientele who want affordable yet healthy options.

‘I want them to feel good about eating this food every day’ Fulmer says, ‘Produce is such a star in what I do: Fresh herbs and fresh vegetables, locally grown.’

Some of these include a Butternut Squash Bisque: roasted and pureed butternut squash with garlic ciabatta croutons and a sprinkling of fresh herbs. The soup is smooth and toasty on a rainy day, steamy and velvety with a hint of warm spices. And then there’s the half Vintner’s Greens salad with fresh mixed greens, blue cheese crumbles, spiced whole pecans, and thin slices of crisp apple dressed in a light Champagne vinaigrette. The salad is light and crisp and bursting with freshness. It occurs to one that the portions are generous enough that one could get by on this cup of soup and half salad for about $8.50, a bargain for this level of ingredient quality.

And then there are the sandwiches; both on today’s menu are served on delicious Ciabatta bread par-baked from La Brea Bakery, which Fulmer bakes them every morning specifically for the sandwhichs. A tasty Caesar club sandwich offers tender roasted chicken, pancetta, tomato and Caesar-dressed romaine. The Italian Classic sub is stacked with Salami, Mortadella, provolone cheese, ripe red tomato, crisp lettuce, and generous slathers of mayo and yellow mustard.

I finish the meal off with a glass of Aguas Frescas of the day: honeydew melon and pineapple. Aguas Frescas are a type of Mexican fruit juice: Fruits are pureed and strained, mixed with sugar and water, and served ice cold. The bright melon-green juice is cold and sweet and endlessly refreshing. I leave my new favorite neighborhood bistro feeling refreshed, nourished, and ready to take on the afternoon.

Pau is hardly ‘finished’ or ‘over’: They’ve only just begun.

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