More Elbow Room at The Pasta Shop

Market Hall at Rockridge is my little neighborhood gourmet haven. It’s fronted by the popular Oliveto Restaurant and Café and filled with a bakery, coffee shop, wine store, fish market, meat market and produce store. Sure, some of the items sold rival Whole Foods in costs, but it is a nearby quick stop to fill my gourmet needs.

One of the main shops at Market Hall is the Pasta Shop. This gourmet deli is often packed with people heading home after work, getting off the BART, and picking up some pre-made dinner at the deli section. The Pasta Shop has a much larger store at the also ritzy Fourth Street Shopping District in Berkeley, so for years the Rockridge store has been a place for fast shopping instead of browsing.

But late last year, right before Thanksgiving I think, the Pasta Shop expanded its Rockridge location, and now you can actually walk without feeling squeezed by the tiny aisles or feel crowded by the people waiting near the deli counter. I’m not sure how they were able to get more room (I think they pushed the deli counters back into the store room space) but I really like the new layout.

Having more room to walk around means the Pasta Shop can really display its products the way they do it at the Fourth Street store, just like this whole table on cheese. I love cheese and the Pasta Shop always has the best selection of local and European cheeses. I often go to buy their mini buffalo mozzarella balls or bocconcini.

And now you can look at the aisle displays without squeezing by someone looking in the opposite direction.

With more aisle room, the Pasta Shop has increased its offerings of Mariage Freres tea from Paris, which is one of my favorite brands. Now I’m sure I can regularly find my favorites like Casablanca and Black Orchid, or maybe discover new ones.

It’s always nice being able to stretch out when shopping!

The Pasta Shop, 5655 College Ave. (at Shafter), Oakland. PH: 510.250.6005. Open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.