Homemade ravioli (and wine deals) make Kansas City restaurant my comfort food haven
Editor’s note: Welcome back to our series Let’s Dish, Kansas City, showcasing some of our favorite restaurant meals. Click here to sign up for our new newsletter. And scroll down to learn how you can participate.
My mom and I used to give each other a knowing look after a hectic day, signaling: We should probably order out from the Italian spot down the road and eat fettuccine and pizza and watch “Gilmore Girls.”
(Racine, Wisconsin, has no shortage of great Italian spots, but we had our favorite less than five minutes away.)
When I moved to Brooklyn, the oasis of the glowing sign on the corner beckoned me after a long day or night: my go-to pizza shop.
And from the moment that some friends in Kansas City introduced me to the neighborhood spot with the sweet pea ravioli of my dreams, it’s been Cupini’s.
The unassuming Italian mainstay just steps from the state line at 1809 Westport Road has become my KC cheesy, carby comfort food haven.
Those new friends have become dear ones over what we’ve christened “Cupini’s Thursdays,” walking over and sharing a bottle of wine (only $10 on Thursdays) and plates of ravioli after bad days at work, big wins or just because we have a lot to gab about.
The restaurant feels like the extension of our living rooms, and that’s exactly the vibe Franco Cupini wants. He opened his namesake eatery with his son and daughter-in-law almost 20 years ago after learning to cook in Rome and building his career in luxury dining. And while he has tales of plating immaculate dishes for the president of Italy, he said he wanted his restaurant to feel more relaxed and welcoming.
“It’s a family business, it’s home,” he told me and two of those friends when we stopped by for lunch recently. “I’ve worked at fancy hotels all over the world, but this is home. Everything we serve is home taste.”
When you walk in the door, it feels more like a deli than a sit-down restaurant. Look left, and you see slices of tiramisu and rows of cannolis — Cupini said they prepare 150 fresh cannoli from scratch every day. Look right and see bags of the restaurant’s homemade pasta frozen for people to cook at home. Straight ahead: jars of Cupini’s beloved marinara sauce, which he prepares in a vat and adds zero salt. Framed family photos adorn the walls.
Patrons step up to the counter, order from the menu on the wall and receive a number to bring to their table.
Though Cupini calls his lasagna with six layers his “business card” and says Guy Fieri loved it so much he ate it for breakfast, I haven’t managed to get past the ravioli on the menu. Sometimes, I go for the sausage and fennel, but usually I fall back on my favorite, sweet pea. My friend Kat got the same as me, and my other friend, also Kat, went for the lasagna.
A $12.99 plate of ravioli, along with a cannoli and a share of a bottle of wine, will cost you about $20.
Cupini’s makes fresh pasta daily — gnocchi, manicotti, linguine, you name it. For the ravioli, a machine presses noodles together to create rows of pasta pockets.
“We use three different kinds of flour for elasticity, lightness and body,” Cupini told us.
The bechamel sauce is straightforward: “cream, onion, romano cheese, different spices and love,” he said without irony.
But the peas are the main character, and they really are sweet.
“If I make pea ravioli, I want to taste the peas,” Cupini explained, noting where he gets all of his ingredients. “The simpler, the better.”
The freshness and lightness of the pea filling balance out the heavier pasta and sauce. You get all the satisfaction of a plate of creamy, doughy goodness, but you don’t necessarily feel like you need a nap.
For good measure, I leaned over and took a bite of Kat’s lasagna too, trying it for the first time. Like Cupini warned me, “it’s easy to love.”
Maybe I’ll go so far as ordering it for myself next time I send or receive that familiar text, not all that different from the knowing glance I exchanged with my mom as a kid: “Cupini’s tonight?”
