“Chelsea Market an indoor mecca of food joy sparkling with the culinary energy of a street fair, and Rana is a magic heaven of fresh pasta.”

And that’s when Chelsea Market is there for you. Inside this indoor mecca of food joy are abundance of restaurants and tiny shops which offer tastes and dishes that could satisfy literally any craving you might have.

They have everything from taco stands, to shops stocked with myriad olive oils, to bakeries, to wine bars. It’s like an indoor mecca of food joy, and it’s all beautifully decorated like a street fair.

Inside Chelsea Market is a place called Rana, and it’s a magic heaven of fresh pasta divided into two distinct sections. The takeout section has rows and rows of homemade pasta, noodles, and ravioli of every shape, color, and size.

As you’d expect, they have a large menu where you can pick your pasta, sauce, and proteins. And there’s also a full-service dine-in restaurant with an incredibly extensive menu of unique pasta, salad and soups. It’s more elaborate so it’s a little more expensive. My friends and I went back and forth trying to decide if we wanted to dine in our take out- we actually sat down at a table for like two minutes before we figured out we wanted the take-out menu.

To be honest, the restaurant menu overwhelmed me because of the fantastic combinations of flavors that they offered, so we went with the simpler menu in the front of the place.

It wasn’t like it was much easier of a choice for me as they have at least 20 kinds of pasta to choose from. I asked the girl working what she thought, and she recommended doing a combination of the alfredo and marinara sauces together, and I went with the Brasato ravioli (filled with beef.)

It was AMAZING. Every ingredient was fresh, and I could taste it. The sprinkle of parmesan on top really brought all of it together for a fantastic bowl of pasta that I will never forget.

My friends went with a penne topped with their basil pesto and some fresh grilled chicken, and it was just as delicious!

There’s something about homemade pasta that will trump basically all other foods for me, and Rana did not disappoint. I did see some chocolate ravioli that were apparently filled with chocolate, but I was afraid if I got them, they wouldn’t make it home. If you’re in New York and love fresh pasta, you owe it to yourself to check out Rana!

The post Restaurant Review: Rana Pasta is a NYC Gem appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Suits are coming back. True, they’ve technically never gone anywhere, but more and more we’ve been seeing lines of affordable, good looking suits become available to the casual gentleman. Of these lines I’d have to say that my all time favorite is Bertolini. Though they’re not by any means famous (or for that matter, well known), Bertolini makes a hell of a suit for the price. Just this weekend, I picked up a beautiful three-piece in a slate blue with charcoal pinstripes for under $250. Now let me tell you, I have a hard time finding a suit that fits how I want it to; everything seems either boxy or incredibly tight. This suit, however, fit perfectly off the rack and all that was needed was to hem the pants. It tapers in the right places, it hangs well off the shoulders, and the kicker is that I have three other friends who bought the same suit (different sizes of course), and despite our wildly varying body shapes they fit each of us perfectly.

Bertolini is an Italian suit manufacturer, meaning the fit is going to be almost unbeatable; so why doesn’t it break the bank? Well while the materials come from Italy, and the designs are put together by professionals, the suits themselves are hand-made overseas. This gives one the feel and look of a high end Italian suit at a fraction of the cost, meaning it is affordable for almost everyone – even students like yours truly. This is the best wardrobe investment I’ve made in a long time, and encourage you to follow my example. Whether you’re on a budget, or just looking for a great suit at any price range, do yourself a favor and get into a Bertolini.

The post The Student’s Suit appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.