Homeroom: (Belated) Valentine's Day Mac & Cheesiness

Homeroom's Gilroy Mac & Cheese. 

With poor Ben severely sick and in pain with an old person's disease shingles on Valentine's Day, it's pretty needless to say that we didn't really get a chance to celebrate. Luckily, neither of us puts too much stock in the made-up holiday, so we weren't too upset about this. But we do usually mark it in our own little way and, despite the fact that it came a little later than usual, this year was no exception. I had heard good things about this mac & cheese place called Homeroom in Oakland, so we decided to check it out for a belated Valentine's Day date.

Homeroom's DIY Chandelier, hanging over the community table.
Photo Credit: Homeroom.

It was a Friday night and the place was packed, but we fortuitously managed to get seats right away. Now, I should have expected this from a place that specializes in mac and cheese, but the place had a total hipster vibe to it (in a good way). There's a community table, diy chandeliers, wall decor consisting of succulents, and a chalkboard with a map of California on it and other cute Bay-Area-bougie things. They even served their drinks in mason jars!

Ready to eat our mac n' cheese!

Anyways, this particular night, Ben ordered the "Spicy Mac" with breadcrumbs, which for some reason is excluded from their online menu, so I can't give you specifics in terms of ingredients, but I can tell you it lived up to its name. Seriously, you need to have something to wash this down with or your mouth might be left with third-degree burns. I ordered the "Gilroy" with breadcrumbs and broccoli, which includes gouda, sharp pecorino and a hint of roasted garlic. (As a native NorCal gal, I appreciated the playful naming of the dish). We had fun being couple-y as we ate, taking bites off of each other's plates, which had the added bonus of making both of our dishes taste better. Because Ben was still recovering, we both made a wholesome choice with our beverages by getting homemade root beer, which had this refreshing, almost spearminty aftertaste that we both found to be quite enjoyable.

Tell me what homemade oreos look like?
This is what homemade oreos look like.
(Also Blue Bottle coffee in a big red mug)

I received a lovely tip from miss Miraya (whom you should all know by now from this and this) that their homemade oreos were to die for, so we ordered some for dessert. This was probably my favorite part of the meal. The oreos were not only made from real chocolate cookies (not those little cracker-like things you get with the name-brand version), but they also a bit of sea salt on top of them which was just the icing on the cake. I actually think that sea salt and chocolate could replace icing and cake in that proverb because the combination is just that natural and heavenly. And, in spite of my coffee-hating ways, I quite enjoyed dunking my oreo into the Blue Bottle coffee that Ben ordered to top of the meal. (I even took a few sips, but don't tell!)

 Our return to Homeroom: "Mexican Mac" takeout 

Now, not to get too cheesy (get it?), but the wonderful meal that Ben and I had that night more than made up for the fact that we weren't able to celebrate Hallmark Card Day in a timely manner this year.
We got to do some of our favorite things: talk about nothing significant for long periods of time, make fun of each other, and geek out over delicious food. Best of all, we discovered a new place to eat, and we've since gotten takeout from there (I was boring and stuck to "Gilroy", Ben tried "Mexican Mac," which has chipotle peppers and a lime on top, nuff said). All in all, it was a pretty good time with a pretty cool guy. And that's as cheesy as I'm gonna get.

The Pasta Shop: A Tasty Backup Plan

Apologies again for the late posting! It's been a hectic week, and it promises to be a pretty hectic month as well, and sadly, I don't have as much time as I would like to dedicate to this blog!


For now, however, I want to share one of my favorite places to eat when I need a quick meal that is sure to be delicious: The Pasta Shop! Both their Rockridge Market Hall and 4th Street locations have a wonderful deli with delicious prepared foods, perfect for when you are having a busy day, are hungry and need something tasty fast! 

The Pasta Shop's Prepared Food. A Lifesaver.
Photo Credit: http://rockridgemarkethall.com/pasta-shop

Sure enough, a few days ago, that very situation arose. I had been shooting my friend Estherina (with a camera––don't worry, I'm not going to jail and she is fine!) for her blog, Estherina's World and for her lookbook. I had just finished a long day of classes and was pretty hungry, but I couldn't pass up the chance to spend a few hours with Estherina before she jetted off to London. So after a fun couple of hours of fashion and photogeeking together, I was delirious with hunger and had my heart set on the Pasta Shop! 


I drove us, god knows how, to Market Hall (my favorite place in the world), and we entered the Pasta Shop. This store is a veritable foodie's dream, it has all sorts of cheeses and fancy olive oil bottles and lots of treats to satisfy even the sweetest sweet tooth. But one of the best things about them is their prepared foods and deli section. Whenever I've been so tired and hungry that I can't even think, this is the place that saves me. And this is the place that saved me that very night.


I ordered their Phat Thai, which I had had before and knew was delicious, as well as a Summer Fruit Galette for dessert, something I had been wanting to try all summer and now, I finally allowed myself t.  Estherina, like me, has a strong sweet-tooth and, after ordering herself a slice of Pesto Lasagna for dinner, also got herself a slice of Chocolate Cream Pie and a packet of homemade Italian Butterhorns. After eating a bites of my Phat Thai in the car to ensure that I had the energy I needed to drive us home safely, we made our way back to my place to enjoy our meals together. 

Phat Thai in the Car. Keeping it Classy.

The Phat Thai was delicious, as I knew it would be. Unlike most other Phat Thai I've tried, this is refreshingly tangy and the peanut flavor is complementary rather than overpowering. For me, this is what makes this Phat Thai stand above the rest. I had a few bites of Estherina's Pesto Lasagna, which was good and filling, but probably not the best thing that I've had from Market Hall. (A word of advice: get their pasta salads, they aren't called the Pasta Shop for nothing). I also had a couple of her Italian Butterhorns, which were so sugary, cinnamony, and buttery that I knew they were bad for me, but they tasted sooooo good. I decided to save my Galette for breakfast in the morning, and at the end of our meal, Estherina headed home and, later, off to Londontown to begin her studying abroad adventures. I was glad I got to spend a few hours with her doing the things we loved to do the most: eating, taking photos, and being all around goofy. 

Photo of Estherina taking a photo of lasagna. This is one of the many reasons we're friends. 

The next morning, my Summer Fruit Galette awaited me, and I was so glad I had saved it. It made the perfect breakfast pastry, it was simultaneously sweet and tangy, which if you know me well, these are the flavors that drive me wild! (And the reason why I love orange juice so much.) 

Summer Fruit Galette Morning Wonderfulness.

So what did I learn from this culinary adventure? First, the importance, for me at least, of eating on time. When I don't, I get delirious and dysfunctional and all around unpleasant. Second, the importance of having a backup plan when you can't eat on time. For me, the Pasta Shop provides one of the tastiest backup plans you will ever encounter.