Mangia

Berkeley, California, September 23, 2012—

WHERE TO DINE in Berkeley on a Sunday night? We settled on a modest neighborhood Italian next door in Albany, where we began with this salad: arugula, pecans, pears, Gorgonzola; a nice combination.

I continued with a plate of ravioli stuffed with spinach, ricotta, and Parmesan cheese, in a thick cream sauce pungent with cilantro, garlic, pesto, and lemon juice. The lemon combined with the cilantro in a manner I've never experienced before — I always associate cilantro with lime, not lemon. The result made me think of sorrel, a flavor so specifically French you'd never expect it in a plate of ravioli — but it was, I must say, delicious, with only a hint of pignoli to contribute more by way of texture than flavor. A very nice dish.

Nero d'Avola

• Mangia Mangia, 755 San Pablo Avenue, Albany; (510) 526-9700