Anticipation is rewarded at T-Ravs

Anticipation can be so sweet. Being able to wonder, to imagine what an experience will be like, to have something to look forward to; that feeling can be like magic. This excitement, to varying degrees, is how I feel when a new restaurant is about to open. This can work in the restaurant's favor. There is much buzz when a place opens, lots of salivatory anticipation. But sometimes, a place just can't live up to its buzz, and the weeks of waiting are not rewarded with culinary bliss. This, happily, is not the case with T-Ravs, which just opened at 3582 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson.

I feel like an idiot, because when the name of the new restaurant was announced as T-Ravs, I had no idea what the name was referring to. I thought the name was cool, modern, maybe slightly hip, maybe referencing the owner's name? But I missed the big clue that the name told us exactly what the restaurant would be specializing in — toasted ravioli. I discovered that locals around the Hill have been calling toasted ravioli "t-ravs" for quite some time. And then I fell down the toasted ravioli researching rabbit hole.

Toasted ravioli, it is widely agreed, was invented in the St. Louis Italian-American neighborhood, The Hill. There is some argument about which restaurant invented it first, but everyone is pretty clear that it originated in St. Louis. Well then. I never knew this. I probably should have, because toasted ravioli is everywhere. You know the stuff — premade, frozen, thrown on the kid's menu or in the appetizer section just to take up space.

However, this is not what you will find at T-Ravs. At T-Ravs, the ravioli is made in-house and stuffed with myriad fillings. I tried the traditional t-ravs, because I always pay due homage to tradition. The traditional t-ravs were filled with beef, pork, Parmesan, and soffrito. If you didn't know (again, like me...I obviously need to brush up on my Italian food lingo), soffrito is usually onion, celery and carrot, in this case chopped very fine, and sauteed gently in oil to release all of that rich vegetable flavor. That is why I saw tiny specks of orange in the ravioli filling. The taste was sublime, with a lightly breaded, wonderfully crunchy exterior and a delicately flavored and beautifully balanced meaty interior, rich without being the least bit greasy. Those premade toasted raviolis and these homemade t-ravs are not even on the same planet. You can taste the effort that went into folding up these little pillows of goodness.

If a traditional ravioli doesn't float your boat, you can switch up your fillings. Try one stuffed with four types of cheese or buffalo chicken. Even try the one stuffed with BBQ and taters. I haven't yet, but I certainly will.

T-Ravs Lasagna Bolognese, a feast for the eyes that doesn't disappoint the stomach.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

I couldn't go to an Italian place without trying the pasta. The Lasagna Bolognese seemed like a good, solid, traditional choice, so I went with it. I received a generous block of lasagna that I thought was just about as good as lasagna gets. Not too dry, not too saucy, rich and creamy with an herb-whipped ricotta cheese, the sausage in the layers was spiced just right, giving an Italian nod to traditional seasoning without overwhelming the dish. I very much enjoyed the lasagna, and as I was talking to the chef, my husband finished it off much to my dismay. I guess he liked it, too.

We visited T-Ravs with some of our family, so we got to try the pizza as well. The House Special came with sausage, mushrooms, onions and roasted garlic. The cheese mixture of this pizza was so rich and creamy, it was my favorite part. There was nothing about our meal that I found lacking.

The restaurant is beautiful. White and clean, with a lot of windows, it is inviting. On a perfect day, the large garage-type doors on the back wall are thrown open and the place feels like an open-air cafe. You can also sit on the back patio and enjoy a wild and serene bit of creek and trees, a nice counterpart to our modern hectic life.

My server was wonderful, and Mr. Jarod Handley, the mastermind behind the menu, was engaging and down-to-earth. He spent a decade in New Orleans learning how to create delicious food at Emeril's Restaurant, and it shows.