This week, we're excited to welcome ALLISON AREVALO to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks. This week's show was recorded live in front of an audience at The Civic Kitchen in San Francisco.

Allison is the so-called “Mac-and-Cheese Maven” behind Homeroom, the Oakland, CA restaurant she co-opened in 2010. After seven years, she stepped back—selling off her shares to spend more time with family and friends—and found herself hosting weekly Pasta Friday dinners at her home.

Allison’s second cookbook, The Pasta Friday Cookbook: Let’s Eat Together, pulls together 52 of her favorite pasta and sauce combinations (she never repeats a pasta shape!) along with salads and side dishes. Her first cookbook is The Mac + Cheese Cookbook.

In today’s show, Allison joined us for a live pasta dinner at The Civic Kitchen in San Francisco, where we discussed how “what’s the worst that could happen” approach to life, her pivot from Homeroom to Pasta Friday, and what influences her. Plus: We’re playing a pasta-themed game with Allison.

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