Michael Jordan. Mario Lemieux. Tom Brady. All greats of their respective sports. All retired, reversed their decision and then came back to dominate.
Now, I’m not saying that I am the Michael Jordan of student food reviewers (or maybe I am?). But, in any case, my mini-retirement, which has left you all in a world without Boston-area dining suggestions for over nine months — elongated by summer break and multiple trips home — has concluded. I’m back, munching better than ever. You’re welcome.
For my first meal out of retirement, I attended a birthday dinner for my housemate and fellow Daily columnist, Brian Becker. My first meal back could not be a meager bagel or a cup of coffee, so we went for the crème de la crème: Italian food. Granted, as a New Jersey native, I have yet to be blown away by an Italian restaurant in the North End. Still, I figured I would give Mamma Maria, a picturesque establishment with stunning views of the Boston skyline, a shot.
As we entered, I (admittedly, somewhat annoyingly) alerted my friends to the fact that I would be covering the experience for this column and mandated that they offer me a bite to eat of their dishes so that I could write about them. This imposition was not universally agreed upon at first, so my pestering continued until it was.
I settled on the Pasta Con Sugo, a tagliatelle pasta with a meat ragu, the most similar dish to my time-tested favorite, bolognese. I agreed to share my meal with my friend Yuvit, who ordered the Duet of Pasta, in order to bring my total number of pastas to a column-sufficient three.
The Pasta Con Sugo (from here on out, I’m just going to call it bolognese) came out first, and I was delightfully surprised. The homemade pasta was perfectly al dente and very fresh. The ragu was hearty, flavorful and had a slight kick. However, the dish was lacking in the cheese department and was not as creamy as I prefer my bolognese to be. Nonetheless, it was a strong showing, and probably the best bolognese I’ve had thus far in Boston.
Next up was the first of the two pastas in the Duet of Pasta, a hen mezzaluna with cacciatore rosato sauce. Surprisingly, I don’t speak Italian (all I know is sfogliatella), so I was unable to discern what that description meant. I came to understand that it was simply a chicken-stuffed shell. This was the weakest of the three pastas. It wasn’t particularly bad, but it was nothing to write home about (which is, ironically, what I’m doing here). It tasted like a stuffed pepper from a Jewish deli, but with a pasta shell instead of a pepper. Still, the chicken was hearty, the rosato sauce was pleasantly sweet and the homemade pasta dazzled again.
Last but not least was the star of the show. On one of the final summer nights of 2025, I encountered the perfect summer pasta — spinach and sweet corn ravioli with mushrooms, red peppers, arugula and squash. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I saw any mushrooms, red peppers, arugula or squash on my plate. If they were there, they made no impact. Still, the ravioli, like the rest of the pasta, had an exquisite texture. But the pièce de résistance was undoubtedly the corn. When they said sweet corn, I didn’t expect it to be that sweet. It was like candy! The term ‘farm-to-table’ gets thrown around a lot, but that corn was so fresh, I would have thought it was grown in the next room. A truly stellar bite.
As always, my gut reactions:
Pasta Con Sugo: A solid bolognese attempt. Needs more cheese.
Hen Mezzaluna: Wouldn’t look out of place at Fred and Murry’s.
Sweet Corn Ravioli: Undefeated, never lost.
So, there you have it. Jordan has returned to the hardwood. Druckman has returned to the table. I hope I haven’t overwhelmed you with pasta, but it’s a classic of munching and, like all good meals, the pastabilities are endless.
This time, I promise to resume this column sooner. The next intermission, too, shall pasta. But, for now, pasta la vista, baby! (I’m afraid this has gone too far falle.)
Dining and Cooking