{"id":34502,"date":"2018-06-22T07:45:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T11:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=34502"},"modified":"2020-12-07T14:40:12","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T19:40:12","slug":"cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruminations: How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>hen I first moved to New York City, I did what any single person would: I downloaded Tinder. And, like many users, I went on bad date after bad date. My \u201csettled\u201d friends got a kick out of my stories. Tales of disappointing evenings became my party trick.<\/p>\n

One winter, I met a very interesting character. For privacy\u2019s sake, I\u2019ll call him Nick. After chatting for a couple of weeks on the app, he sent me a Facebook video introducing himself. Weird, certainly, but I thought the extra effort was a nice touch. We decided to meet.<\/p>\n

After discovering our mutual love for mac and cheese, Nick picked the perfect dinner spot for our first date\u2014Beecher\u2019s. We arrived and put our names in for a table. While we waited, Nick ordered us a tasting tray of cheeses. Classy, I thought.<\/p>\n

Once his name was called, we followed a hostess downstairs to a dimly lit room aptly named \u201cThe Cellar,\u201d where we were shown to our table. That\u2019s when things started to get interesting.<\/p>\n

We were seated uncomfortably close to the couple next to us. After politely nodding and smiling my way through their small talk, I began to skim the cocktail menu.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you ordering a drink?\u201d I asked Nick, while trying to decide what a hip, young New Yorker might order. The response that followed was something I will never forget.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no, I have to be in a toga in two weeks.\u201dWhat? Was I on a date with some New York frat god? (And if so, kill me now.) Nick continued: He was an actor who was gearing up to go on a tour with his theatre troupe, where he would star in a show described as \u201cGreek theatre for kids.\u201d We ordered two waters.<\/p>\n

When the waitress returned and inquired about food, we selected what we came for: \u201cThe World\u2019s Best Mac and Cheese<\/a>.\u201d After a few awkward minutes that felt like hours, our double order of cheesy pasta arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmells good!\u201d the husband next to us exclaimed. Aren\u2019t you two done yet?<\/em> I thought. Between bites, I begrudgingly learned more about Nick\u2019s acting career. The cast-iron pan of pasta before me became my saving grace. The more tired I grew of our one-sided conversation about abs and acting, the more solace I found in my mac.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn two weeks, I\u2019ll be gone for three months with one other girl from my theatre troupe!\u201d<\/p>\n

As I took my first few bites, the rich and creamy cheese sauce greeted my tongue with just the right amount of tang.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my day job, I work at Equinox!\u201d<\/p>\n

The baked bread crumbs on top added the perfect amount of crunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really not that nervous to be in a toga again. I think I\u2019m prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cheese pulled beautifully as I lifted my fork from the pan.<\/p>\n

Finally, after about 45 minutes, we finished up and split the check. Nick and I walked back up the stairs of what suddenly felt less like a cellar and more like a bad-date dungeon. After a short goodbye that involved an uncomfortable hug on the street, we parted ways. A few days later, I received a long \u201cI think we\u2019d make better friends\u201d text. My response was short but polite: \u201cI appreciate your honesty. Good luck with your toga.\u201d<\/p>\n

Months later, presumably after he completed his tour, I received an out-of-the-blue text from Nick, who for whatever reason made attempts to bond, yet again, over our mutual favorite food: \u201cNot sure how I feel about this yet,\u201d read his message, followed by an image of the latest Lay\u2019s potato chip flavor: Cheddar Mac and Cheese.<\/p>\n

We never spoke again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Illustration by Tom Bingham<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The “world’s best mac and cheese” makes a bad Tinder date a little better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":34504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[590],"tags":[3839,3864,3840,3837,2456,2457,3838,1429],"coauthors":[3836],"class_list":["post-34502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ruminations","tag-bad-date","tag-bad-tinder-date","tag-beechers-mac-and-cheese","tag-cheesy-tinder-date","tag-personal-essay","tag-ruminations","tag-tinder","tag-tom-bingham"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The "world's best mac and cheese" makes a bad Tinder date a little better.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ruminations: How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The "world's best mac and cheese" makes a bad Tinder date a little better.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-22T11:45:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-07T19:40:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1020\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Page\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Page\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/\",\"name\":\"How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-22T11:45:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-07T19:40:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/03a32200d28748c5382b95bd63f593d6\"},\"description\":\"The \\\"world's best mac and cheese\\\" makes a bad Tinder date a little better.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1020,\"caption\":\"illustration of a phone screen showing a tinder profile for mac and cheese | Culture: The Word on Cheese - Mac n Cheese Saves a Tinder Date\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Ruminations\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/stories\/ruminations\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Ruminations: How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/\",\"name\":\"culture: the word on cheese\",\"description\":\"Culture, America's magazine for cheese lovers, delivers stories about cheeses, cheesemakers, travel to gorgeous cheese regions, and practical tips on buying, presenting, and cooking with cheese.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/03a32200d28748c5382b95bd63f593d6\",\"name\":\"Bettina Makalintal\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/aa60a6d8e71b275a4f937835662c0e6f\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/bettina-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/bettina-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bettina Makalintal\"},\"description\":\"Bettina Makalintal is culture's former editorial assistant. With a background in the food industry and as a bike mechanic, she can often be found biking in search of new donut shops.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/author\/bettina-makalintal\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better","description":"The \"world's best mac and cheese\" makes a bad Tinder date a little better.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ruminations: How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better","og_description":"The \"world's best mac and cheese\" makes a bad Tinder date a little better.","og_url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/","og_site_name":"culture: the word on cheese","article_published_time":"2018-06-22T11:45:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-07T19:40:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1020,"url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sarah Page","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Page","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/","name":"How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png","datePublished":"2018-06-22T11:45:08+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-07T19:40:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/03a32200d28748c5382b95bd63f593d6"},"description":"The \"world's best mac and cheese\" makes a bad Tinder date a little better.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Screen-Shot-2018-06-12-at-11.25.59-PM.png","width":1600,"height":1020,"caption":"illustration of a phone screen showing a tinder profile for mac and cheese | Culture: The Word on Cheese - Mac n Cheese Saves a Tinder Date"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-makes-bad-tinder-date-better\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ruminations","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/stories\/ruminations\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Ruminations: How A Bowl of Cheesy Pasta Made A Bad Date A Little Better"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/","name":"culture: the word on cheese","description":"Culture, America's magazine for cheese lovers, delivers stories about cheeses, cheesemakers, travel to gorgeous cheese regions, and practical tips on buying, presenting, and cooking with cheese.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/03a32200d28748c5382b95bd63f593d6","name":"Bettina Makalintal","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/aa60a6d8e71b275a4f937835662c0e6f","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/bettina-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/bettina-96x96.jpg","caption":"Bettina Makalintal"},"description":"Bettina Makalintal is culture's former editorial assistant. With a background in the food industry and as a bike mechanic, she can often be found biking in search of new donut shops.","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/author\/bettina-makalintal\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34502"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=34502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}