masslive.com

The Ravioli Theory, new Ayer restaurant with international flair

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:44:16 GMT

The Ravioli Theory, new Ayer restaurant with international flair

PUBLISHED: August 26, 2025 at 2:36 AM EDT

AYER — A sidewalk stroll along Main Street these days is a bit like an urban bistro-tour, small scale, with plain and fancy dining options on both sides of the street.

Now, there’s one more: The Ravioli Theory, which opened this spring at 25 Main Street, the same corner locale once occupied by its popular predecessor, Bar25, whose owner held a contest to find a new tenant. Amid social media buzz, the contest winner was announced at a ticketed event last year.

Business partners Terrell Wilson and Matt Lucas, both experienced chefs, won the contest. Apparently, when all things were considered, their concept for The Ravioli Theory was the best fit.

“We were the only one offering a full food option,” Wilson said.

In a recent interview, the two owners talked about how their respective backgrounds led to a business partnership and how winning the contest helped an entrepreneurial vision become a reality.

They met at a Sudbury restaurant, where they each worked at different times and for a while, together. Lucas, whose after-college resume includes “18 to 20 years” of trade experience, was poised to move south for another job, he said. But Wilson convinced him to stay. The business was expanding, and they helped it grow, he said.

“We built a great working relationship,” Wilson said. He had recently returned after a stint with a famous hotel chain, a job that involved travel as part of a “chef’s task force,” readying new hotels opening up in far-flung locations, “everywhere from Caribbean countries to Hong Kong,” he said.

When Lucas pitched the idea of opening their own restaurant, Wilson wasn’t keen, but he warmed to it, they said.

When a friend sent them the contest’s on-line link, they were leery at first, but after looking into it, they entered, not knowing how many contestants they had to outdo. About 65, they learned later. The contest was settled in July, 2024, they said. It took the rest of the year to iron out details, complete the permit process and transfer the lease, which, at that point, had 3 1/2 years to go.

When they finally moved in, the small dining room, with its working fireplace and tall, front-facing windows, had “five or six” tables for two. Replacing them with pedestal-style tables — easily moved to regroup — they added one more. Rustic dark-wood tabletops — the handiwork of Matt’s brother, Nate Lucas, a Vermont woodworker — compliment creamy white walls.

There’s more seating at the bar in the adjoining room, with a couple of roomy booths beyond.

Wilson and Lucas hope that as word gets around, The Ravioli Theory becomes as busy as Bar 25 once was. That hasn’t happened yet, but it’s early days and business has been building, they said.

“We started slow, with a soft opening,” Wilson said, with better turnout at a full opening, later on.

Hours, posted on the website are: Wednesday and Thursday, 4-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4-11 p.m., and Sunday, 4-9 p.m. Plus, weekly Sunday brunch, 9 a.m. To 3 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Eventually, they’d like to extend evening hours to “catch the late-night crowd,” the owners said, maybe to attract folks looking for a place that’s open after they get off work.

They offer lunch, brunch and dinner menus featuring an intriguing array of options: dishes with mixed and matched herbs and spices, flavors from other countries and cultures: Turkish, Greek, Dominican, Asian, Thai, French…the list goes on. Vegetarian choices, too. And exotic cocktails. “We try to be as different as possible,” Wilson said.

Prices range from “Namkeen small bites” appetizers to sandwiches, salads and flatbreads to dinner entrees from about $20, like the Tandoori chicken and waffle, to $32, for steak frites, the priciest item on the menu.

Overall, the menu is Epcot-like in its global grasp, like Disney’s one-stop world tour.

The lamb meatballs, for example, Wilson’s pick for house specialty, is a Mediterranean dish with a cross-cultural twist. “My mom is from the West Indies,” he said. Greek-inspired dishes feature pork, with signature spices and herbs.There are Indian and Asian dishes, too. And Italian. But no ravioli.

So what is the restaurant’s name all about?

“We’re heavy on the theory part,” Lucas said. They coined the phrase to fit a “flavor profile” garnered from eclectic tastes, educational and on-the-job experiences and blended cultural roots. And cookbooks. “I’m deep into cookbooks,” Wilson said.

“Every culture has a dish — like ravioli — in which the dough makes the dish,” he explained, like empanadas or samosas. But The Ravioli Theory doesn’t serve traditional Italian ravioli, which may surprise some customers. There’s plenty on the menu to please almost anyone’s palate, though.

As an extra perk, customers can get credits for each dollar spent. In time, the plan calls for a “passport” program, stamps and all, in keeping with the restaurant’s international theme.

The Ravioli Theory, opens its doors and people’s palates

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:18:34 GMT

Terrell Wilson found himself struggling to describe his style of cooking when interviewing for jobs soon after finishing culinary school. He came up with the ravioli theory, the idea that every culture has its own version of ravioli.

by Marley Smith · Friday, July 11, 2025

Terrell Wilson found himself struggling to describe his style of cooking when interviewing for jobs soon after finishing culinary school. He came up with the ravioli theory, the idea that every culture has its own version of ravioli.

Wilson said depending on what you change or add to the Italian ravioli, it can become a samosa from India, an empanada from Colombia, or a beef patty from Jamaica, and more. Wilson began to use his theory to describe his style of cooking, in which he combines flavors and styles of different cultures.

“Who’s to say I can’t take the filling from one and put it in the wrapper of another and combine different cultures?” Wilson said.

After winning the Bar 25 giveaway and being given the opportunity to create their own restaurant, Wilson, 36, and Matt Lucas, 25, co-owners and chefs, turned Wilson’s cooking style into a concept for their restaurant, The Ravioli Theory.

Bar 25 owner, Reza Rahmani, said the Ayer location was always meant to be a test location for craft cocktails, and he has since moved into a larger space in Newburyport. Rahmani said he originally tried to sell the bar. However, the offers he received, such as proposals for dive bars, were not what he wanted to see in the space or what he thought the community wanted.

That is when Rahmani came up with the idea of giving the Ayer bar away. He wanted someone who deserved an opportunity, but did not have the means to start a business themselves, to take over the space. He said while he was coming up in the industry, doors were always being shut in his face, so he wanted to open one for somebody. While he was not giving away his business, nor did he own the space, he was giving away the opportunity, as well as the furniture and what was left behind in the space.

After receiving somewhere between 55 and 65 applicants, Rahmani eventually narrowed it down to three contestants. Then, on one day, he gave each a floor in his three-story Newburyport location to showcase what their restaurant would be.

A spin on the familiar

Among a vote from the public and a panel of judges, including Phantom Gourmet, The Ravioli Theory won. Rahmani said what ultimately led him to his decision was how their menu was not intimidating, but read as a spin on the familiar, as Wilson said ravioli serves as a symbol of comfort. Wilson said he and Lucas made their menu so customers read what they know, such as meatballs or chicken and waffles, but they then include a twist, such as lamb meatballs with a Mediterranean spin, or tandoori chicken and waffles.

While they do not serve any form of traditional ravioli, which Wilson said tends to shock people, the name works as a conversation starter and a chance for the servers to explain the restaurant and some of the dishes.

Winning the contest in July 2024, Wilson and Lucas were not able to get into the space until September. Rahmani said the one necessary cost of entry was putting a hood in the kitchen. This proved to be much more difficult than they had thought, as they had to deal with permits and find a contractor. Lucas said they were not able to start the hood process until October, and in total the work cost them $85,000. Lucas said 90% of what they spent went into the kitchen. After doing lots of kitchen renovation and creating a more vibrant dining space for their customers, they were able to open in April 2025.

Since then, while they have been doing well, both Wilson and Lucas are anticipating a much busier fall and winter. Lucas said the hardest days so far have been the slow days, as chefs thrive on a sort of chaos and energy. However, in their hiring decisions, the two wanted to prioritize a positive environment, in which people build each other up and work as a team.

The community is also very important to them. Wilson said they try to give as much as they can. When a local church asked for a $25 gift card for an event, they gave it one for $100 instead, Wilson said. And during May, Lupus Awareness Month, they did a fundraiser to raise awareness and proceeds for the cause, as the disease is one that Wilson has personal connections to in his family and through losing a best friend to it. Wilson said they are hoping to be able to help in even larger ways as they continue to grow and have the means to do so.

The restaurant will continue to change its menu seasonally and experiment with new foods. “There are 26 countries on [the menu] right now, but they don’t sit in one continent or area,” Wilson said. At some point there may even be ravioli or one of its cousins on the menu, Wilson said.

These two chefs won a Central Mass. bar for free

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 09:45:00 GMT

Four months ago, Reza Rahmani told MassLive he was holding a contest to give away his 1920s speakeasy-style bar — Bar 25 — in Ayer, for free.