The gentle aroma of caramelized onion wafts through the air, being slowly cooked in another room. The scent leads to a bustling kitchen where Rosemary Cabanban (12) and Karis Chen (12) make their magic. This is just one of their many “pasta extravaganzas,” where the duo prepares gourmet multi-course meals for their friends and family. The occasion could be a birthday, the end of finals week, or nothing at all. Yet, the two dedicate themselves to hosting one of these dinner parties every month. Cabanban said that the story began with a family practice.
“Throughout my entire childhood, my home was always full of dinner parties,” she said. “My family ended up being the family that hosted for all sorts of occasions. However, the pandemic really ended that, but it’s always been something that I really adored—bringing people together for at least just a few hours of pure joy. And so, I wanted to bring dinner parties back and share them with my friends.”
With this longing to host get-togethers again after so many years, Cabanban only needed a reason. After going to Chen’s house to test out a new pasta maker, the two found all the reason their needed. For Chen, the experience inspired her to continue making pasta.
“It started when Rosemary came to my house, and then we were like, ‘let’s try making pasta from scratch,’ because we just got a new pasta maker,” Chen said. “And then we made creamy tomato pasta, and Rosemary ate it, and she said, ‘This is the best pasta I’ve ever had in my entire life,’ so we decided to keep going.”
After such a memorable experience, the two decided that they wanted to share times like this with others.
“We had a lot of fun making it, and it was all in all a positive experience,” Cabanban said. “We have fun making it and eating it. There’s no negative. So, why not? If it’s something so great, why not share it with more people? What’s stopping us?”
With that, the scene was set: a pasta dinner hosted at Cabanban’s house in January, feeding 16 friends and family members all in one elaborate night. But such an ambitious task required immense planning and preparation.
“We go from noon to eight,” Chen said. “And then we just make pasta for eight hours. It kind of sounds horrible, but we have so much fun.”
The result of this labor of love is a multi-course meal that lasts for the better half of a night, where friends and family feast on the duo’s combined efforts.
“We always do a flight of three different types of pastas and sauces,” Cabanban said. “We make the pasta, a salad, two side dishes, and an appetizer. And then we’ll make a mocktail and dessert.”
Despite the long and laborious preparations required to feed so many people, Cabanban said the hard work is worth it.
“It feels very fulfilling,” she said. “I just love seeing the people that I love happy. I’ve gone through patches of my high school career where I did feel very overwhelmed by academic pressures. It’s hard to make time independently to let yourself relax, to let yourself have a fun time without feeling guilty about it. And so I think that it’s really fulfilling for me to see my friends make the time to let themselves be happy, even though they have so many things they need to do.”
While this tradition has persisted through the current school year, with graduation around the corner and a majority of attendees being seniors, the two look to the future.
“We have our grand Friendship Finale on June 3. I’m so excited to do it,” Cabanban said. “But at the same time, it’s sad to bring it to a close. I think that this is kind of symbolic of still coming together. A last huzzah, I suppose, before we graduate.”
Indeed, the pasta extravaganza marks the symbolic end of an era for Chen.
“I feel like we’ve put so much into pasta extravaganza,” she said. “It’s our last night, and that makes me sad because it’s also one of the last nights we’ll spend together.”
Nevertheless, Cabanban and Chen’s monthly dinner parties are a reminder of the importance of community and finding time to relax. The conclusion of this tradition comes as a bittersweet ending.
“[Our pasta gatherings] are about taking a few hours on a Friday or Saturday night just to enjoy life,” Cabanban said. “It’s nice to nurture this small community, this little family of friends that we can always come back to. We’re all going different ways, branching out. But it’s nice to have a community, a family to stay grounded to.”
