Ordering room service is not for the weak. A simple burger and fries delivered to your hotel room can be super expensive. Throw in dessert, and there goes your entire vacation budget. So imagine one woman’s surprise when she discovered that the fancy pasta dish she ordered from room service was allegedly prepared from a $3.79 bag of Trader Joe’s Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe.
While 32-year-old actress Elle McLemore admitted that the pasta “tasted familiar,” it wasn’t until her husband made a bombshell discovery that she solved the mystery.
He was looking for some breakfast food around the hotel, and happened to stumble upon a communal refrigerator stocked with Trader Joe’s Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe and other frozen meals.
“My husband Josh went to grab us some things for breakfast. He went to look for almond milk for my coffee in the refrigerator next to the buffet and that’s when he made the discovery of all the prepackaged foods,” she shared with People.
Not even dessert was safe! According to McLemore, the chocolate lava cake they ate earlier in the week was also in the freezer.
McLemore admitted that she got a good chuckle out of the whole order, but added that it did feel somewhat deceitful given the hotel’s claims about its food. She shared that the hotel website mentioned a private chef who makes culinary meals that cater to dietary needs. Additionally, the menu was marketed as “crafted to nourish the body and soul.”
McLemore did not mention the hotel by name, but at least you know where to find their “calming cacio e pepe pasta with truffle oil” that they sell for $20.