Stefan’s at LA Farm

Stefan runs a great restaurant and will chat you up. We did a special in kitchen chefs table dinner that I would highly recommend. The food was imaginative and delicious. Lost in reviews for places like this is the quality of the staff. They all were right on the spot with smiles and quick to answer questions on how the food is prepared or what dishes were their favorites. If you live in the area thus should be in your regular rotation.

Came here for dineLA! Stefan’s is one of the few restaurants that offers more than three courses for dinner! Appetizer, salad, entrée, and dessert! A friend and I came on a weekday night at 7:30 p.m., and it wasn’t crowded at all! There were probably around 10 other parties dining throughout the time we were there.
Stefan’s has a traditional upscale dining room area and bar, as well as an indoor patio area. We chose to sit in the patio area since it was so pretty! Draped high ceiling, trees, arbor, and open fireplaces, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this restaurant!
Parking:
Valet parking only. Shares the lot with The Recording Academy and another office building. Make sure to get your parking ticket validated, or else you’ll be paying $ 8.50 an hour! Yikes.
Service:
Service was good from beginning to end. I had made a reservation online, and the hostess called to confirm with me the next day. She was very friendly and accommodating. Our servers were polite and attentive, yet in no way overbearing. They switched out our utensils after each course and kept our waters filled.
Food:
1^st Course:
— Crispy Oysters — Smoked gribiche and dill. The sauce was similar to a tartar sauce – mayo-​based with small pieces of hard-​boiled egg. The fried oysters were amazing! Tender and succulent, I wish there were more than three!
— Steak Tartar — with Worcestershire sauce and two slices of garlic cheese toast. They gave a generous portion, and it was well-​seasoned.
2^nd Course:
— Arugula Greens, Cured Salmon, Sea Beans, Radish, Lemon Vinaigrette — The dressing was quite refreshing! Arugula was fresh, and the salmon was tasty and not overly salty.
3^rd Course:
— Slow Baked Salmon — With lemon smashed potatoes, cucumber, dill. The outer layer of the salmon had a nice crisp to it. The inside fish was perfectly moist and flakey! Lemon mashed potatoes were delicious! Complimented the salmon very well. The cucumbers were an interesting addition to this salmon dish, but I didn’t mind them.
4^th Course:
SUPER DISAPPOINTED because they ran out of Nutella Crème Brulee (with raspberries and cream). When we made our dessert choice when ordering before our meal, our waiter had ranted and raved about what a great choice we made because of how deliciously amazing the Nutella Crème Brulee is. We were really excited, and our expectations were high! Right after the 3^rd Course, he came over our table starting with, «The Nutella Crème Brulee is wonderful and one of our most popular desserts, but… we have run out of it.» UH, WHAT?!? Who starts off bad news like that?! To our dismay, we wouldn’t be able to try this supposed star of the dessert menu. We decided to go with the Apple Beignets instead.
— Apple Beignet with Vanilla Ice Cream — Not the typical beignet I was expecting. Instead of being doughy, the beignets were two slices of apple enveloped in a very thin layer of crispy coating. Ice cream was good, but melted quickly from the heat of the apples. Garnished with a mint leaf.
Cocktail:
— Watermelon Mimosa — At first I thought it might be a little weird to order a mimosa for dinner, but hey, I’ve never heard of a watermelon mimosa before and wanted to try it! Haha. Made with pineapple sparkling wine that was not too carbonated, it was perfect since I don’t like extremely fizzy drinks. Overall, refreshing and tasty!
Will I come back here to give their regular menu a try? Maybe. And hopefully next time, they’ll have Nutella Crème Brulee available.

We went for Restaurant week, place was at 35% capacity. Water dropped at 25 minutes, cocktail dropped at 30 which is when he took the order. First course dropped at 1:15, second course dropped at 1:40, We walked out before the third course came. Asked for the manager twice and the bartender gave us a WTF face the first time and then when I came back w/​bitch face she finally moved from behind the empty bar and looked for a manager. No one came out, we waited for 10 minutes and NO ONE CAME OUT.
A waiter walked out in the middle off service and our poor server was stuck trying to manage it all. I would feel bad but the servers don’t run their own food, he had (2) two tops and (1) 4 top and 2 cocktail tables outside. He was absolutely flustered, sweating profusely and couldn’t stammer out the words he was looking for to get our order or explain what the hell was happening.
Stefan wasn’t even at the restaurant, he had one manager running expo in the kitchen and he had one of his «friends» there as the face of the restaurant while he was «home sick». I may not manage a restaurant but pretty sure if you’re not there the place should still be able to run properly. I find it hard to believe that he’s there every single night babysitting his staff and kitchen.
The food was good but a tiny bit over priced, I guess at that price point the clientele isn’t really eating so it doesn’t matter. Extremely smallllll portions.
I ordered the crispy oysters…1 cooked perfectly, 1 over cooked, 1 under cooked.
Second meal was the little gem lettuce, it was 4 pieces of little gem lettuce and it was missing the salami and pecorino.
Also the forks suck, get something that can grip the food, they were like spoons w/​prongs. Absolutely terrible to handle while cutting or trying to get it on the damn fork.
Get it together Stefan, we had high hopes and in no was were any of the things discussed in this review are acceptable.
It was a complete and total shit show, we went to Rocco’s in culver and finally ate our dinner at 10 pm, we sat down at 7.
We had such HIGH hopes, we LOVED stefan and spent the last 2 weeks planning for our girls night on friday and it was just… horrible.

Yes, this place understands atmosphere, yes they understand food… but… lets be honest, Sefan’s exists just so industry elite (and the hangers on) can have a place to (in parlance of the 80’s) «Do Lunch»
They have valet parking just to have it… they make it awkward when you don’t have a reservation… even if you are the only diner within 3 miles.
Whether or not Stefan’s IS sophisticated, or culinarily ambitious, true to the this end of L.A. … They know how to play the part.
The menu is a mix of the familiar cast of characters, with a few surprises… everything is solid — nothing is earth shattering.
The scallops are my go-​to here. A well prepared scallop to me is heavenly. These are very simple but very well presented and prepared.
I do not often order them, but I do appreciate any restaurant that puts corn dogs on their menu — its humanizing, and comforting. Truffle grits fall into the same category.
Though maybe not the most delicious dessert they have, the quartet of ice cream lollipops will ALWAYS make you happy… and for that alone they are perfect meal ender.
I will ‘do lunch” here many more times — enjoy it every time, but never love it.
BONUS: I am not a ‘celebrity person’ but I did say once that I could not die until I saw Tom Waits, well… I ‘saw’ him here… is this God’s round about way of telling me to get on with it already!!!

The restaurant is very cool. We sat in the patio area. The service was great. Everyone was really friendly. I’ve wanted to try this place for a long time because I love Top Chef and Stefan’s food always looked amazing on the show. I came here with a friend using the living social 5 course tasting menu. The highlight for me was the mushroom ravioli. Seriously delicious. My only complaint is that we didn’t have any choices. I thoroughly enjoyed the food, but I don’t love chocolate. So when the dessert came I was disappointed with the chocolate mousse. I can’t say whether it was great or not just because all chocolate tastes the same to me.
But the best part is we got to actually meet Stefan! He was incredibly friendly and we got hugs and pictures!

Not super feeling Stefan’s Farm.
Aside from Chef himself directing traffic outside the restaurant in the parking lot which gave us all a good laugh, the remaining experience wasn’t enough to bolster this review over 3 stars.
Service was insanely slow and oddly meek. Our server wasn’t comfortable approaching our table to take orders as I learned after our 30 minute wait to get appetizer orders placed. I had to get up from the table to hunt down a server and then our guy came over running and stated to me «I didn’t want to interrupt you guys while you were talking.» Um… OK. Were we supposed to sit there silently and not speak to one another to indicate we were hungry? A server should be able to step up to the table, say «sorry to butt in folks… are we ready to order?» To just leave the table endlessly is completely strange and bad service.
Then there was the food…
Most of it good, though the menu is a touch perplexing. The apps set you up for what you think is going to be a very comfort food-​driven, down-​home experience. Items like chili cheese fries, corndogs, sliders and tater tots are what set the starter tone here. However, the entrees don’t at all follow suit. Taking a page from classic New American, there is crispy whitefish, butternut squash agnolotti, braised beef short ribs and a rack of a lamb.
Hmmmmm.
Maybe it is a natural alliance… corndogs and château briand, but I just don’t see it. The menu lacks cohesion and focus.
Lastly, dinner here on a Saturday night wasn’t very busy. Lots of empty tables. Not sure if it’s the semi-​industrial location or perhaps some of the aforementioned flubs, but this farm appears to be missing its flock.

This place has a beautiful setting for lunch or dinner. I have found myself here twice for work-​related purposes since it located conveniently on Olympic Blvd. I was never drawn here because it’s run by a «top chef» winner, mainly because I haven’t watched the show. The food is average — presentation is on point, but the taste doesn’t match.
— Tomato Basil Soup ($ 10) — creamy goodness topped with crostini
— Grilled Artichoke — so yummy!
— Spinach Quinoa Salad — my absolute favorite, light & refreshing.
— Spicy Tuna Tartar ($ 14) — I expected better… I have had better… wouldn’t suggest it.
— Apple Fritter ($ 8) yummy fried goodness with a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
The menu options are intriguing, so if you’re a «foodie» I’d suggest trying this place out at least once. I think they have a pretty happening happy hour and free gum on your way out! The parking is located to the left of the restaurant, you pull a ticket and have to valet.

I’m kind of surprised that the reviews are a bit low here. Our experience was really fantastic, starting with one of the best servers that we’ve ever had. We enjoyed the 7 Course Tasting Menu. I would say that generally the seasoning of everything was fairly tame compared to my taste for spice, but it was excellently matched to my wife’s pallette. Don’t get me wrong, I think the dishes were tasty with an appropriate play of ingredients and flavor combinations. The result is that very often, the featured protein speaks and stands for itself, which in and of itself was refreshing for me. Every dish that we had was prepared, cooked, and/​or grilled perfectly.
Cali Crudo: Hamachi, maguro, salmon sashimi
— –Domaine Carneros Brut by Taittinger
Purple Kale, roasted apple and pear salad
– Hess Shirtail Creek Chardonnay
Mushroom ravioli w/​pechorino
Grilled Scallop w/​sweet corn purée
Crispy Pork Belly
–Trattore Red Zin
Rack of Lamb w/​black truffle grits and romanesco (me)
Château Briand w/​black truffle mash and turnips (wife)
–Double Espresso
Chocolate mousse
We’re looking forward to coming back!

I will never come back to this place ever again. Our server was awful and undertrained, she missed three of our orders and got three orders wrong. Food was subpar and awful, supposedly this guy is supposed to be TOP CHEFF, or at least a contender!!! Terrible food and service. Don’t make a mistake of coming here, there is better options out there.
Horrible would never come here again!

I’ve been here 4 times, and each time, I’ve liked it a little less. It’s nothing against Stefan, who I think is a great person. He comes and greets his customers almost every time. He is a humorous individual and makes you feel welcome.
However, I’ve tried almost every dish on the extensive menu, and unfortunately, nothing stands out. Every item is pretty good, but not outstanding. The highlights for me include the beet and citrus salad, taco beef flatbread, crispy pork belly, and the apple dessert. The ice cream lollipops are decent, as was the tuna tartar.
The $ 34 steak was way overdone. I had requested «chef’s choice» while two of my friends specified medium and medium rare. All three steaks came out well-​done. It ruined the steak. I also ordered a side of brussel sprouts, which was not crispy and was actually burnt-​tasting…
Just a side note, make sure you get your parking validated, or you will be charged $ 20 for parking.

after reading all the reviews, we were quite stoked about checking this place out. alas, we may have overestimated the awesomeness of this spot. our own fault, really.
the food was good. the service was good. it just didn’t knock us off our feet like i thought it would. i ordered the short rib and mama had the mushroom risotto. we started with the plank smoked salmon. the food was all good. the short ribs were a little dry, seemingly from spending a couple days in the walk in and reheating. good flavor nonetheless. but, there was really nothing that hit us like… Bam! oh well. you might love it. oh yeah, it’s kind of in a little hidden spot on Olympic. drive slow or you’ll pass it and have to make a u-​turn somewhere. it’s more of an industrial/​business area than a restaurant row type.

I use the phrase «bald motherfu*ker» as a term of affection… just ask that other bald motherfu*ker Tom Colicchio who I love so gawdamn much.
In my feeble attempts at pretending to be a good dad… I brought both of my kids here for lunch in hopes that they might meet a bald dude they saw on TV. yeah, my kids watch Top Chef… they’re weird like their father… whaddaya expect?
We walk in and just so happen to run into Stefan who is super nice and chit chats with my kids. We grab a nice seat on the patio and I snag a…
CRAFTSMAN HEFEWEIZEN
It was actually pretty good but I only drank half because I realized my son and daughter still can’t drive me home.
BREAD N BUTTER
Self explanatory, not bad at all.
DUCK AND PORK CHEEK RISOTTO
Bavarian triple cheese, dried apricots and parsnips tossed with duck confit and PORK CHEEK! Rich, flavorful, unique. Serving seemed a bit small
for $ 24 but still… Really good stuff.
CHICKEN ROTISSERIE AND FRIES
This turned out to be perfect for my kids. Chicken was perfectly cooked and juicy, fries were tasty too. They ate it up. Stefan even came out and said hello to the kids again and snapped a pic with them. He struck me as a genuinely nice dude.
I don’t let my kids read my reviews so I can say this… that bald ass motherfu*ker Stefan is as talented as he is bald. And that bastard is super bald, yo.

I was a late arrival to LA, so I missed my reservation at my first choice for DineLA. Luckily, Stefan’s had a 10pm seating at their restaurant that I was barely able to make on my drive in from Vegas.
For Restaurant Week, they had a 6 course tasting menu for $ 45. This was the highest end menu price, but definitely worth it to sample 6 courses. Each one was great, and they had decently priced craft brews on tap as well. I had a Warsteiner.
The rest of the courses were a crab salad, ravioli, potato & carrot soup, scallops, beef/​pork tenderloin, and chocolate mousse. I think the pictures say it all.
Huge props to my server Justin M. for helping me abuse the AmEx promotion. Appreciate the extra effort right at closing, thanks!

I was in Santa Monica on a Thursday night for an event, and my group decided to go to dinner nearby. I ended up making reservations to Stefan’s, since I’ve heard about this restaurant several times and knew it belonged to a Top Chef contestant.
The restaurant was fairly empty, with only one party seated in the indoor dining area and the rest seated outdoors. We chose to just sit indoors, away from the noise.
Overall, the food was good but not worth the price. The prices were high, and the portions were really small. Good thing we got free bread to fill up on. My boyfriend ordered the cheapest entrée on the menu, the Piedmontese Burger ($ 18). This was the only entrée that was well portioned. The burger was big and juicy, and the cheese added a lot of flavor. I ordered the Duck Confit Risotto ($ 25), which had a blend of great flavors, but the risotto was undercooked. My friend ordered the Acorn Squash Ravioli ($ 24), which was also a small dish. The raviolis were delicious though; the sweet and savory flavors worked well together.
Service was slow and disorganized, even though there were 2 – 3 waiters stopping by our table every now and then. We were confused about which one was our main waiter. They were all friendly, but it took a long time for us to get in our orders and for the food to come out.
This restaurant is located in an odd location (looks like it’s surrounded by corporate buildings). You have to park valet in the private lot, but the restaurant validates for you.
Overall, the food was good but pricey, and the service was slow. I’m glad I got to try out this restaurant after hearing about it for so long, but it’s doubtful that I will be back unless I bought some sort of deal.

I always love coming here for the small plates. There is always such a great mix and I knew my bf would love it. He’s a big bone marrow fan, and although it’s not my thing, it killed two birds — he loved the dish and the dogs went crazy over the bones.
So many dishes are full of flavor and have a unique twist. I especially love the cocktails. BF got a martini flight that was the bartenders choice and admittedly, I drank most of them including my own. Delicious!
Had exceptional service from Alexander who made just a regular Friday night something really special. Sat in the atrium area and really enjoyed the energy in there.

Came on a Friday night. The décor, atmosphere and service was top notch but I can’t say that for the food. I was expecting much more from the «Top Chef» but I felt the dishes missed.
Mini Corn Dogs: its corn dogs. I thought he would of done something special.
mini Big Mac & McTurkey: dry, rather would of had raw than grilled onions, if you don’t eat it in one bite, its going to fall apart. BUT the toasted sesame buns worked.
wedge salad: better than other places capped with a boatload of bacon.
whole fish– branzino: nothing spectacular but pain in ass to eat since its loaded with bones.
lollipop desert: FABULOUS!
I probably would only come back to either sit at the bar or the outdoor lounge and just do apps…

THE SCENE. Playful food from a guy who acts like he is okay with letting someone else take the reigns of his kitchen. No doubt, Stefan has worked hard (and played just as hard) to get to this point in his career. Now, he’s relaxing, visiting with diners, and making sure everyone is being entertained. Nonetheless, he’s still got plans to expand his empire (look forward to Stefan’s «Beer and Brats,» coming soon to LA).
This was easily the most insanely surreal dinner I’ve EVER had, and I had Christmas Eve dinner in the same room as Ron Jeremy. Trust me… Craziest dinner ever.
I came here with my food-​writing mentor, as she was scheduled to do an interview and tasting with Stefan. Lucky me, I got to sit in — and it was sheer madness. Chef Stefan Richter sat down with my friend and I to allow her to conduct a quick ten-​minute interview. It quickly devolved into an hour of drinking and debauchery. After spending time with us, he moved around the room greeting diners and posing for photos. That Stefan is a real character!
THE FOOD. Stefan’s is all about little plates. You could call ‘em Tapas, but that’s kind of a stretch considering the food isn’t anywhere near Spanish. (
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— «Finnish» Me Off Martini. (
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— Truffle Pea Arancini. (
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— «Like A Big Mac» Sliders. (
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— Bowl of Corn Dogs. (
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— Cold Cucumber Soup. (
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— Gravalx. (
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— Smoked Potato Soup. (
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— German Sausage. (
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— We also enjoyed some Ice Cream «Lollipops» and a plate of Apple Beignets. Both were really good, and the photos are posted, but I couldn’t cram the links into the review for ya.
I have to say that everything was well-​executed, thoughtfully-​plated, and each dish brought a smile to my face. The corndogs didn’t scream awesome, but they sure weren’t bad. It would be neat if perhaps the kitchen made some funky little sausages for the corndogs (like chicken-​thyme or something). Otherwise, every plate was something I would eat again.
Two things really jumped out at me. The «Like a Big Mac» sliders were cooked with artisan-​style skill and arrived cooked to a perfect medium. (
) Think of how hard it is to turn out a bunch of silver dollar sized patties… Someone pimped those burgers right good. The Chilled Cucumber Soup is something I would usually breeze over but the flavor of that cold soup was a true revelation. When dining at Stefan’s at LA Farm, you can bank on one thing for sure: If you order the soup, there’s a chance you may fall in love with it.
THE VERDICT. Last time I dined at Stefan’s (a year after he opened) I was underwhelmed, with the exception of a Split Pea Soup with Duck Chicharrones. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I came back to enjoy some truly well-​executed little plates of pure fun. Stefan seems to have settled into a real groove and his confidence comes through his food in strides. I look forward to going back, and as a matter of fact, I’d suggest it to anyone who would listen. It’s an affordable spot to unwind after work, and for what it is (fun, unpretentious, comfort food), it really doesn’t get much better.

Mik S. has been raving to me about Stefan’s for at least a year now; so after hearing about Stefan’s $ 15 3-​course dinner celebrating 15 years in America, I immediately booked reservations for George W. and I two weeks in advance.
We began with two amazing starters, Truffle Pea Arancini ($ 5) and Like a Big Mac ($ 6). Both were bite-​sized and delicious; these were probably the highlight of my meal and really should’ve been larger in portion.
First Course — Gravlax,
Salmon, dill mustard sauce, and watercress… I wasn’t a huge fan. It’s the first plate I’ve returned to the kitchen in recent memory (which I felt so ashamed about). But I really couldn’t finish it. The salmon was thick and rubbery causing a gag reflex, and it didn’t help that I dislike mustard. I tried to get George W. to finish mine but he refused to since he only forced his down out of politeness.
Second Course — Smoked Potato Soup,
A little salty, but overall pretty tasty. However, both George W. and I agreed it would’ve been great if we had some bread to dip into the soup.
Third Course — German Sausage,
I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, but the sausages went surprisingly well with the sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and three strands of fried onion strings (I would’ve appreciated more) in a beer sauce. This was George W.‘s favorite dish.
We were both really tired and wanted to go home asap, so we didn’t get dessert. It didn’t help that the restaurant was unpleasantly warm and stuffy inside either. It was a lovely space though, with various rooms including an open patio area with fire pits and twinkling lights strung above. However, in the main dining area, we were a little too close to other tables for comfort — the table next to us was literally three inches away from our table. The service was decent, but we didn’t see much of our server unless he came by to serve our plates. Stefan was seen pretty often running around the restaurant greeting tables (not ours) and drinking with friends.
Overall, the food was good; but since Stefan’s is quite far from me and didn’t leave as big of an impression as I had hoped for, I most likely won’t return.

Hey Stefan! Thanks for filling my stomach with some scrumptious eats! Tom and Padma are fu**in’ stupid for booting you off.
Bone marrow, sausages, baba ganoush, ratatoullie, gravlax, OH MY!
To be honest though, the BEST part of my meal was the Brussels Sprouts, so much so, that I ordered them as my dessert too! (Yeah, our waiter look at me as if I asked him to skin a cat when I asked for a second round of the B-​Sprouts). I couldn’t resist, they seriously tasted like POPCORN! I could smuggle those roasted and sauteed green orbs into a movie theater! FU** Movie Theater Popcorn.
So I went to Stefan’s at LA Farm for my friend’s birthday and oh wait a minute, it just so happened to be TOP CHEF SEATTLE SEASON FINALE night. So on top of having a delicious meal, I got the roasted white fish while the other in my party ordered the sausages (not bad) and the beef goulash (delicious), we also got to watch Stefan run around the restaurant like baboon on crack (? lol) out of excitement (and perhaps some intoxication?) to see who was going to win the show.
In between commercials, Stefan came and hung out at our table, taught us a few Finnish words (BEEPALEE) and cheers-​ed to the birthday girl… And then ran back to the TV to see WHAT HAPPENED NEXT and tweet at Andy Cohen.
It was a pretty great experience. Now if only Tom and Padma were at the table across from us.
**Something interesting I noticed: there were NO salt and pepper shakers on the table. That’s pretty ballsy! To be honest, I am the type of girl who salts her food even before trying it (I KNOW, I KNOW — FAUX PAS)… But I am happy to report that Stefan’s food needed NO SEASONING!!! NONE! ZIP! ZERO! I didn’t even have to whip out my EMERGENCY STASH of salt in my purse (yup, some people have band-​aids and some chicks of lip gloss, I have SALT!)… High five to that.
You must must try Stefan’s — Especially if you’re a fan of Top Chef.
The only reason why I didn’t rate this restaurant as 5-​stars is because our server was a bit rude to me at times… Remember, I am the one paying the bill so treat me with a little respect (you know who you are)!! **Luckily, Stefan made up for your lack of class**

I’m still thinking of a certain creamy dish here… def. a good sign.
* Miss Demeanor cocktail = refreshing.
* Cali crudo = light fresh tuna & hamachi, aioli was not overpowering. [see pic]
* Parsnips ravioli in brown-​butter sage = fave dish! Was glad they only served 4 large raviolis to this dish, otherwise I woulda just kept eating and ruined my appetite. [pic]
* White fish = this was fair, not the best nor the worst fish I’ve had. Just so-​so.
* Crab gnocchi = a heavy dish but the gnocchi was cooked well, the crab chunks were great~
Nice dining ambience… an outdoor-​inside feel. Service was courteous enough. Total 3.5 stars but rounding up for that ravioli dish!