The "Best Ever Ravioli" Story

It was an ordinary day. We had just returned from dinner at Ciros in Lancaster. Had the Ravioli one more time so I could decide if it was still at the top of my "Best Ravioli" list. I had anticipated this meal for months, but left the restaurant with mixed feelings. Now it's even harder to rate my top three or four choices for ravioli. I told Carol that I don't really have a #1 choice on my list any longer. I now have a few choices that can be interchanged depending on my mood or the location. Ciros' Ravioli Quattro Formaggi, which is four cheese ravioli with sauteed shrimp, garlic and broccoli rabe is fantastic. The yellow and green striped pasta adds an aesthetic look to the entree. The flavorful garlic sauce is what makes it so tasty. The huge shrimp are done just right and also have the garlic flavor, but the disappointment comes with the slightly bitter broccoli rabe. When I first had this offering after they opened last year, the meal had asparagus instead of broccoli. Now that easily topped my list, but they've changed it since, and it has made me take it off my list as the sure fire #1 choice. It still is one of the best you will ever eat. Another great ravioli is the Chesapeake Inn's Ravioli stuffed with crabmeat in a creamy crab aurora sauce. Can't you just taste it after reading that description? The sauce is truly unbelievable and there are big pieces of jumbo lump crab meat which fill the ravioli as well as being placed on top of the the entree. The Chesapeake Inn is located in Chesapeake City which is on the C&D Canal in Maryland. The restaurant has fantastic views of the canal and the linen tablecloths and napkins add to the warm atmosphere. About eight or nine years ago I tried some of the best tomato based ravioli in a little restaurant called Cafe Mileto in Germantown, Maryland. This restaurant was picked by a Washington DC magazine as one of the best Italian eateries in the DC area. The wood burning oven is what gives the meals the extra good flavor. But, the restaurant changed hands a few years ago and it wasn't the same. A few months ago I traveled there again with my wife, daughter and granddaughters and they have again come up with the flavor that I remembered, except that it is more cheesy than before. And, that can't be bad in my book. Again, the wood firing of the Ravioli Rose creates not only a flavorful taste, but a neat visual appearance. The last on my list of truly memorable Italian entrees comes from the island of St. Martin. On the French side of the island in a little town called Grand Case is the restaurant Il Nettuno. Funny, but the owner is an Italian who hails from Washington, DC and who is a Redskins fanatic. I try not to hold that against him. Inside the front door is a tribute wall to the Redskins. The facade of the restaurant reminds you of Italy and the meal does also. Their Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce is one of the many reasons they have been rated as one of the top 10 restaurants in St. Martin. Just looking at the photo I took of it makes my mind wander to the waterfront table with the sunset view we always get. The cobalt blue plate just seems to make the buttery sauce so much better. This pasta literally melts in you mouth. Can hardly wait till I have a chance to try it again in a few months!! I have eaten ravioli at many other places, but these four stand out in my mind as some of the best. Let me know what you think! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - from top are: Ciros' Ravioli Quarttro Formaggi, Chesapeake Inn's Ravioli stuffed with crab meat, Cafe Mileto's Ravioli Rose, and Il Nettuno's Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce