Gourmet & Healthy in New York City

Bruno Cavalli left Italy in 1888 with big dreams of providing for his family. He could only initially find work busing and waiting tables, but he made an important discovery. Customers from the old country were craving fresh ravioli but couldn't find it in New York, so fresh ravioli is what he gave them—even though at first he had to pack his handmade pasta in shoeboxes and deliver it by bicycle. By 1905 he opened his first shop, which he fittingly called Bruno's Ravioli. His wife worked at the counter, and his sons slept in the back, within earshot of the youngest raviolis' nighttime cries for marinara sauce.

Four generations later, the King of Ravioli's legacy lives on through his family's gourmet market, which has expanded to include Italian delicacies and sandwiches. Shoppers there can still snap up traditional ravioli made with Bruno's old recipes, as well as newfangled varieties with fillings such as tofu or shiitake mushrooms.