Hey Mac, it’s Cheese!

The Cashmere Cricket (2235 Front St.) was the most recent featured restaurant in the Downtown at Home Take & Make Experience series organized by the Downtown Cuyahoga Falls Partnership. The program features a restaurant that will prepare an entrée, along with some cocktails or beers for carryout, at a fair price. We—Susanne and I, that is—decided that we had to try the Mac and Cheese special, which was paired with two Mad Cap Hazy IPAs for $40. Ordering was simple enough: send an email to Cashmere Cricket, they respond with an acknowledgment and provide a window of time available for pickup. We arrived at 5pm and were promptly greeted by the server and directed to the bar, where we paid for our to-go meal. The bag contained a sheet with reheating instructions, which were fairly simple, and personal instructions as we were handed the bag. Three large entrée containers, and one container for “toppings”—chicken, bacon, and dried tomatoes—were packed nicely along with the two 16oz Madcap crowlers.

The preparation was fairly simple: add the toppings that you want to your penne pasta, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, and dinner was served! The beer was already chilled, even. The cheese was rich and flavorful, but not too overpowering. We couldn’t exactly place what kind of cheese was used, but I would guess a blend of Gruyere and parmesan (I’m sure I was way off, but it was delicious all the same). The chicken was tender, and the tomatoes were like sundried tomatoes, but juicier.

Overall, the balance of flavors from the cheese, along with the tartness of the tomatoes and the rich chicken and bacon paired with the Hazy IPA were well worth the “night out” for $40.

Downtown at Home continues March 11^th with the Gourmet Popper Café offering pepperoni rolls with a drink and dessert for $8 per kit. Visit https://www.downtowncf.com/events/downtown-home for details.