“Outside of New York City and Arthur Avenue, there’s not that many ravioli places,” says Kate Galassi, who in early March opened Via Ravioli in Coxsackie with her husband Steve Gonzalez to tackle just that challenge.
And not just any ravioli. The pair are veterans of the food industry, Galassi on the sourcing and operations side, and Gonzalez a master pasta maker and cofounder of organic, artisanal dried pasta brand Sfoglini. In 2017, the couple moved upstate to Coxsackie when Gonzalez relocated Sfoglini’s manufacturing facility from Brooklyn.
“Steve has always been interested in doing ravioli,” Galassi says, on the phone from Milan, where she and Gonzalez are currently researching pasta equipment and meeting with producers. “Ten years ago, there weren’t that many people doing dried pasta—Sfoligini felt really fun and exciting. And now, there are a lot of people doing really good dried pasta and not that many people doing ravioli. So, once Steve sold his shares and we were talking about what was next, ravioli was an exciting option.”
In October, the couple closed on a former auto shop on 9W in Coxsackie and spent six months transforming it into a commercial kitchen and retail shop. They opened the doors on March 6. “This is not our first rodeo. Definitely with this project, it finally feels like we are reaping the rewards of having opened food businesses in the past,” Galassi says. “When we make decisions, it’s just the two of us and we move fast. There’s a lot of joy in that—in knowing we’re doing what we want to do.”
As their website says, the ravioli “mixed, rolled, filled, frilled, cut, and boxed” daily in Coxsackie. You can also find frozen ravioli, ready-to-bake lasagna, dried pastas, sauce, and a selection of antipasti. Anything that doesn’t get sold in the day is stored in the freezer. “They have such a short shelf life because not pasteurized. A lot of the ‘fresh ravioli’ you see in classic Italian-American places have a thicker pasta, it’s a more dense ravioli, but the ones we make are super delicate. very thin.” Like the fresh raviolis, the frozen ravioli can get dropped right in a pot of boiling water and have a (frozen) shelf life of about six weeks.
The ravioli come in two shapes: square, which come 20 to a box, and round, which come 12 to a box. A box feeds about two people. For now there are three main flavors: classic ricotta ($11), spinach ($13), and mushroom ($13). A recent lobster special sold 100 boxes in the first hour on the first day, promising to be a popular fixture in the rotation.
Galassi is excited to rollout more collabs with local farms and seasonal specials starting in late spring. Think a wild-foraged ramp ravioli, braised beef ravioli in collaboration with Grimaldi Farm, pork sausage ravioli in partnership with Letterbox Farm. “I have that background in farm partnership work, that is something I feel really passionate about,” Galassi says. “And we’re really excited to build out our wholesale program with places like Mx Morningstar, Hardy Roots, and Talbott & Arding.”
But ravioli isn’t the only thing on offer. Via Ravioli also offers three kinds of fresh egg noodles as well as vegan pastas, all made fresh daily. (A vegan ravioli is in the works as well.) They also sell sauces, ready-to-bake lasagna, dried pastas (including from Sfoglini), and a selection of antipasti.
“We’re on the main commercial stretch of Coxsackie,” Galasso says. “Our building is not cute, it’s not in the quaint historic downtown. We’re next to Stewart’s and across the street from the Y. We get folded into people’s errands, which is great, it’s exactly what we want.” With 20 parking spaces and all the products pre-packaged, you can pop in and out in a few minutes.
“It feels exciting to be doing this in Coxsackie,” Galassi says. “A lot of the most exciting food stuff feels like it happens on the other side of the river sometimes. So it feels wonderful to be living in our community and opening the shop here.”
