Pasta Flyer

Pasta Flyer – OK the first time I heard about this concept was via Kickstarter. My boyfriend is a huge fan of the site, and I have to admit it’s a cool way to help support something you believe in and want to see come to life. I love that you can search the site by key terms like “Gluten Free” to find projects that interest you. There are thresholds for how much you want to donate and a thank you gift you get at each level. It’s kind of fun and there are lots of cool projects out there.

I happened to find the Kickstarter page for Pasta Flyer and after reading it thought heck I’d donate! The Chef behind the project Mark Ladner from Del Posto had been working on creating a good Gluten Free Noodle for 3 years. There are a couple things on this project that stood out to me. 1^st the pasta cooks in less than 5 minutes. 2^nd a food truck. My boyfriend is obsessed with food trucks. Food trucks in Chicago are a social marvel right now. The part that sucks about food trucks Being Gluten Free!!! They get busy, you have to wait in line to ask all the questions, slowing down the line, and the fear of being turned away cause they can’t do gluten free. Normally I’m pretty good with receiving the news that place can’t do gluten free, but food truck events it feels so much more vulnerable that I panic over it. Maybe because people have seen me stand there, and wait go up and not get food. They worry you’re walking away empty handed cause they’re out of food….

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pastaflyer/pasta-flyer-italian-cuisine-japanese-style-andglut

All of that aside this the projected gave hope for new dining options for gluten free. After reading up on Mark’s background in cooking I was delighted that this would be awesome. I opted for the $25 prize to get a sample of the pasta and sauce. The project would be funded by June 2014 and prizes sent out in September 2014. I was excited to see the Facebook updates on the project when it launched in NYC and moved around the East coast, secretly wishing they’d post when they were coming to Chicago, cause you bet I’d be calling in sick the first day just to try it out. Several months past, I moved, I reached out in December to see if prizes were mailed, since I needed to update my information. I received an email saying they’d ship out right away but they were busy making everything by scratch so they were too busy. OK… Kind of sucks for backers since this was how they got their business started.

I kind of forgot about it again until I noticed Ground Breaker Brewing had a Kickstarter in February to put their beer in cans. I LOVE Ground Breaker, so my boyfriend and I both opted to get awesome matching hoodies. I told him the whole story how I was still waiting on my pasta from last year, we laughed and moved on. Then our hoodies arrived in the mail in June… Still no pasta! It’s been a year!! I wrote KickStarter and they reiterated it’s at your own digression to donate though they do their best to remove fraud accounts, but to keep reaching out to get my prize. I wrote again and reiterated again that I moved since then. If making the pasta is that hard can I get my money back at least?

The other day I got a phone call that a package arrived at my old address, and it sounded like I ordered loose beads. I sat there trying to figure out what would I have ordered and why did it show up there. Because I normally sit around just waiting for someone to call and tell me I need to go out of my way to pick up stuff (sorry a bit sarcastic there) I went to find out what it was. To my shock when I opened the box it was the pasta, rather broken, and a jar of sauce, surprisingly intact!

Actual Pasta Review!!! So we made the pasta for dinner last night.

1^st off I don’t think the directions could be any more vague, I almost wanted to ask why bother! I put a pot of water on the stove to boil, warmed up the sauce, wondering if there was enough sauce for the pasta. I poured the water over the pasta and it wasn’t enough. To save time I ran water thru the Keurig and added it to the bowl. Most of the pasta was uber soft, but we had some crunchy pieces for the parts that didn’t quite get in the water. 

2^nd There could have been more sauce, and a bit more thickness to the sauce, it was watery when I poured it over the pasta, but the taste was good, it had a bit of a kick yet wasn’t too acidic. I really did like the sauce, but could have been a bit less limp. Luckily there were only the 2 of us for dinner cause if we had guests we wouldn’t have had enough sauce. Now the Pasta it was tasty! I tried an uncooked noodle and it almost tasted buttery, and it didn’t have a funky after taste. The one issue the pasta stuck together horribly. I would say adding some oil or butter to the water when boiling it before putting over the noodles would be a must. We had a decent amount of pasta left so that was dinner the next night. I do wish I could buy the pasta online or in the store because it is a good tasting pasta, and for single serving options when dinning out it’d be perfect cause of the quick prep. I give the product itself 2 thumbs up, but the hassle and extended wait left a salty taste in my mouth and I’m a bit indifferent on the project staying around. It’s hard to build up credibility when it’s lost right out the gate.