An Italian Restaurant Chef Warned Us About Ordering This Popular Pasta

Nearly every restaurant has a dish you have to try, something they specialize in that is just amazing. The flip side is that most restaurants have at least one dish that is only okay or, at worst, disappointing. When it comes to Italian cuisine, unless you're at a restaurant known for its fresh pasta, you might want to skip the ravioli, as it could be a mediocre dish.

When Tasting Table covered eight dishes to skip at Italian restaurants, we talked to some chefs to get their input. Chef Matt Eckfeld from Dimmi Dimmi in Chicago recommended avoiding the ravioli at some establishments, saying, "They can get too thick on the pasta, and the filling can get a little boring or muddled."

Ravioli needs to be made with fresh pasta for a quality dish. Anything brought into a restaurant from outside will be essentially the same as if you bought it at the grocery store, so there's no real reason to order it. The chef must have a solid understanding of how to prepare fresh, stuffed pasta. Dough for stuffed pasta needs to be pliable. The chef needs to be able to fold and seal the pasta while maintaining a uniform thickness. As Chef Eckfeld said, it cannot be too thick, or it will overwhelm the filling. That perfect balance is the hallmark of a good pasta chef.

Because ravioli is a labor-intensive dish, a lot of restaurants outsource it. Some companies specialize in artisanal ravioli cooked in small batches. They use premium ingredients like black truffle or pear with gorgonzola cheese. If you saw them listed on a menu, you'd likely be tempted, because they sound delicious. These companies sell their products specifically to chefs, not to the public, with the intent being that these will be served at restaurants. The Ravioli Store states right on its website that the company's goal is "to provide New York City chefs with the best tasting artisan ravioli and fresh pasta possible."

None of this is to suggest that any of these pre-made raviolis aren't delicious. It's very likely they are quite tasty. However, if you're dining out, especially at a higher-end restaurant, you have certain expectations about the food you're eating. It's not wrong to want a dish that was freshly made to order. Since you're paying for it, it's better to choose a dish made fresh in the kitchen rather than one that was brought in and reheated.

Ask your server if the ravioli is freshly made before ordering. Any chef who does prepare fresh ravioli would use this as a selling point and happily let customers know. Handmade ravioli is incredible and would definitely be worth ordering. If it's not listed on the menu and your server cannot confirm it is freshly made, it is likely not a fresh product. In that case, it may be better to choose a dish the restaurant specializes in while avoiding these other mistakes you can make at an Italian restaurant.