Eataly NYC Downtown has a new takeout counter and it’s devoted exclusively to… ravioli?
It’s not pasta in its mind-bogglingly broad array of shapes and sizes — just the filling-stuffed kind.
“It’s very traditional of Italian food to do one thing well,” said Brandt Senter, head pastai, or pastamaker, at the downtown Manhattan branch of Mario Battali’s big-name Italian marketplace.
And ravioli are clearly the favorite among the customers at Eataly’s fresh pasta counter, where they comprise 65 percent of the daily-made provisions sold, Senter said. (That amounts to roughly 650 pounds of ravioli sold in one week.)
Starting this week at the new “I Ravioli” stand just a few feet away, chefs are taking orders for and cooking up to three kinds of ravioli every day: a ricotta-and-spinach-stuffed variety served with tomato and basil sauce ($11.80); smaller pasta pockets from the Piedmont region of Italy, called agnolotti, packed with peas and mint and topped with an asparagus and parmigiano-reggiano sauce ($12.80); and prosciutto ravioli doused in the sauce of the day ($13.80). Patrons can take their pasta pillows to go or devour them fresh off the pan in a nearby seating area.
amNewYork stepped into the kitchen to see exactly how one meal is prepared, with Senter as our guide.
I Ravioli is located at Eataly NYC Downtown, at 101 Liberty St. The counter is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
