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Archives for April 2011

Review: Homeroom

April 23, 2011 by Angie Sommer 6 Comments

Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes please
___________

Wow, sorry, I’ve been gone for a bit. Friends in town and madness at work makes Angie something something…*

So, what’s been happening? Have you found other better blogs to read? Undoubtedly. Anyway, I’m typing today about one my favorite foods: macaroni and cheese. There’s a new mac and cheese restaurant in Oakland called Homeroom and it’s all the rage lately.

I’ve heard people talking about this place nonstop since it opened a few months ago. It was time for a try.

Some friends and I met up at Homeroom after work a couple weeks ago when it was super duper hot outside. The day was beautiful, but Homeroom has no air con. Which would normally be fine, but that day meant that we were a sweating, hungry bunch. And then we ate some hot, dense mac and cheese. It was not the best plan (ex: milk was a bad choice), but we made the best of it and still enjoyed ourselves. And it would have been a great day to enjoy one of their few tables outside (but we didn’t want to wait).

menu

Menu

The space is smaller than I expected, for some reason, but is decorated with cute and artsy items all revolving around a school/learning theme (we were in Homeroom, after all). The menu is a single page of paper with instructions on how to fold it into a paper airplane on one side, in case you feel so inclined. The choices are basic: 8 types of mac and cheese, a few sides of veggies, a handful of desserts, beer (including on tap), wine, and other drinks. I really appreciated the simplicity and easily made my decision to reminisce about Rome with the “The Exchange Student: Cacio e Pepe” and a side of carrots.

mac and cheese

Cacio e Pepe mac and cheese wins!

… 

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Filed Under: Mac and Cheese Tagged With: Oakland

Review: Dell Cafe

April 10, 2011 by Angie Sommer 1 Comment

Atmosphere: 2/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value:5/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Why not
___________

Dell CafeIt’s Saturday. You want breakfast. Unfortunately, you’re in or around Hayward. Where to go? There are a few choices. I’m not a personal fan of the chain restaurants, so rule out your Denny’s and IHOPs right away. The next steps up are your Emil Villa’s, JD’s, Main Street Diners and Doug’s. Unbeknownst to me, Dell Cafe is also around for your breakfast eating pleasure.

Dell Cafe can be found at 2637 Castro Valley Boulevard, just after the mini golf place but before Redwood Road. I don’t actually think I’ve noticed it before. We passed it trying to find it. But, Yelpers like the place and I wanted a waffle. And hence we arrived at Dell.

This place is a diner. Actually, it’s more like a Diner. Old school style, capital “D” Diner. It’s small with a dozen or more patent leather booths, cheap varnished wood-veneered tables and two rows of counter seating that meet at a corner right as you walk in.

Dell Cafe

Inside Dell Cafe.

… 

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Filed Under: American, Breakfast Tagged With: Castro Valley

Review: Celadon

April 5, 2011 by Angie Sommer Leave a Comment

Atmosphere: 4/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  If we’re in the area
___________

CeladonA few weeks ago when we were in Napa for a weekend, we had to make a choice: where to have dinner on our single night in the area. This was a daunting choice for a foodie such as myself — I really hate it when you are in a foreign land (of any degree) and you have one chance to choose an awesome place to eat. And you choose somewhere crappy and you’re sad about it. Granted, this can often not be avoided, but I like to hope for the best in my proverbial dice roll.

K and I wandered the Napa promenade on this brisk (read: freezing) February evening, peering in windows and reading displayed menus. We were evaluating a number of restaurants up and down the main drag for suitability (with the help of Yelp on my phone) when we stumbled upon Celadon. It looked promising. Modern decor in a converted warehouse-type setting, tucked away behind a hotel just off the riverbank. We decided.

Celadon Inside

“Industrial” interior area of Celadon

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Filed Under: American Tagged With: Greater Bay Area, Napa Area

Recipe: Pesto Pita Pizzas

April 1, 2011 by Angie Sommer 1 Comment

Say that three times fast.

I sort of hate when people tell me to say something three times fast, so I apologize.

Ok, Pesto Pita Pizzas. Are surprisingly delicious. Hence, they make it to my blog. You may have noticed that I don’t love to cook very much, but Tami made these for a few friends and me the other night and I just had to bring them home. And by “bring them home” I mean drive to Trader Joe’s and buy the ingredients for myself.

Ingredients

Ingredients.

PPPs require four ingredients from Trader Joes:… 

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Filed Under: Recipes and Home Cooking

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