Keeping it fresh

MANILA, Philippines -- As food lovers, Filipinos have acquired a sense of taste that only settles for the best recipes from all over the world. One style that has surely made an impact on the local palate is that of Italian cooking.

Although generations of Filipinos have enjoyed Italian food - from posh restaurants to home-cooked Italian recipes - there are still tons of things yet to be discovered in Italian cuisine.

Take pasta for instance. Apart from chefs and culinary aficionados, only a few people know that there are actually two types of this Italian staple: the dried pasta that we've all grown accustomed to, and a variety called fresh pasta.

Very few stores offer fresh pasta because of its short shelf life. With limited access to this ingredient, the best way to acquire and use this type of pasta is by making it from scratch. If you're interested in Italian dishes made with fresh pasta, a place called Bistro Ravioli welcomes you to try some.

Bistro Ravioli offers dishes consisting of mostly home-made ingredients. From its pasta, to the bread, all the way to its pizza dough, Bistro Ravioli prepares everything from scratch and shares the same freshness with each of its customers. "We looked at Italian restaurants and no one or very few offers fresh pasta. That's how we entered; we offered fresh pasta which makes us different from other Italian restaurants," says Princess Pilarta, owner of Bistro Ravioli.

Unlike other restaurants, Bistro Ravioli's menu doesn't offer an extensive choice of dishes. Instead, the bistro focuses on just a few which fans of Italian cooking would definitely adore. As its namesake suggests, the restaurant is very proud of its ravioli recipes. The combination of different kinds of stuffing, enclosed in fresh pasta and drizzled in a variety of Italian sauces, indeed makes every signature dish truly special.

One of the remarkable ravioli dishes in the menu is the Italian Sausage Ravioli. Each one is stuffed with a home-made Italian sausage and poured with a healthy portion of Romesco sauce. The dense flavor of the Romesco sauce creates a prelude to the Italian sausage enveloped by fresh pasta.

The dish is commendable for the way it makes each flavor melt into one another. This is mainly due to the quality of the fresh pasta which absorbs the flavor of the Romesco which also serves as a gentle transition into the sausage stuffing as well.

Another dish worth-mentioning is the Three Cheese Ravioli. Filled with a combination of mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan cheese, the dish is plated with a serving of robust marinara sauce. The fusion of the soft and tangy cheeses with the spicy marinara sauce is a mouthwatering pair with the pasta acting as a conduit in between.

Meanwhile, their Spinach and Feta Cheese Ravioli is also an interesting dish. Served in pesto with sautéed tomatoes, the dish creates multiple contrasts from the inside all the way to the outside. The use of spinach and feta cheese as stuffing is a refreshing twist; while the tomato infused pesto sauce introduces different flavors into the dish making it both tasty and healthy.

Another example of Bistro Ravioli's fresh pasta in action is in its Molto Meatball Spaghetti. While the pasta has a creamy texture, retains the sauce's flavor, and definitely al dente, the meatball that comes along with it is a delight on its own in terms of texture and the spiciness.

The restaurant also has a brick oven to make pizza and bread. A sample of this brick-oven made pizza is the Pepperoni Pizza with its dough prepared in-house, its crust fresh, and serves as an excellent base for the cheese, sauces and pepperoni toppings.

The brick oven gives its pizza crust an uneven toast, which provides a unique character and variation on its texture. Bistro Ravioli also offers dishes like crispy Pizza Fritta with Boursin Cheese and the spicy chicken wings, aptly called Daiblo Wings, which provides a good pairing with pasta dishes with its sweet and spicy flavor.

While the local dining scene is literally filled with different Italian restaurants, Bistro Ravioli has the right thought in trying to offer something new to the people. Although the preference between dried and fresh pasta is always debatable, a new is experience is always healthy.

Another good thing about this restaurant is that it doesn't use gimmicks to attract customers. Written along the walls of Bistro Ravioli is a quote by the great Julia Child which shares the same vision: "You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients."

Visit Bistro Ravioli at the 2nd Level, Southwing, SM Mall of Asia Bay Blvd., Central Business Park, Bay City Pasay. For more information you may contact them through telephone number 804-0577.