My husband and I have really enjoyed taking in a number of plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in nearby Ashland this year. The Festival draws playgoers from all over the world, with a large portion of the audiences drawn from up and down the West Coast, from Vancouver, B.C., to the San Francisco Bay Area and further south. That means that, considering the size of the town, Ashland offers quite a range of dining options to please some pretty sophisticated palates. Last year I wrote about our first introduction to a meat-lover’s paradise, Smithfields. We returned there recently for another great meal, but when we arrive in town early for dinner before a play, we usually like to try a different venue each time to check out the options. That enables us to provide out-of-town guests with we-tried-it recommendations, depending on what they’re craving. In the past month we’ve visited a new favorite — twice — and also brought home some take-and-freeze options for future meals. We stumbled upon Wiley’s World Pasta Shoppe & Eatery through a Limelight deal Harry had purchased.  Located about 2 miles from the downtown OSF theatre core near the Southern Oregon University campus, it’s a bit outside of the radar range for most tourists visiting for the plays. Housed in a decades-old (1940s–50s?) concrete-block, squatty, narrow structure painted in purple and adorned with twinkly lights like a head shop out of the ’60s, the exterior does not encourage high expectations for what the kitchen might produce (mine certainly were low!). Inside, a hodgepodge of wooden tables and chairs seat maybe 25 diners, most within view of the kitchen and a deli case offering several dessert options (cheesecakes and cobblers predominate) and containers of sauces and ravioli meant for take-and-make at home. The three or four specials on the chalkboard begin to raise expectations, further boosted when one checks out the printed menu. Wiley’s, in business for 22 years, promises the freshest local ingredients and all-organic veggies and Northwest wheat in the production of its made-fresh-daily pastas, Italian bread and desserts. All entrées are served with a generous slice of that bread, a fresh green salad and the housemade, scrumptious, red onion/poppy seed vinaigrette and range from $10–15. One may mix and match about ten different sauces and four or five types of noodles or choose from about half-a-dozen homemade ravioli dishes. On our first visit, I chose one of the special ravioli dishes: The “Black Bear” is stuffed with a mixture of blackberries, salmon and fennel, served with a hazelnut butter sauce and tiny dollops of goat cheese slowly melting on top. It was nothing short of heavenly, with the combination of textures and flavors melding perfectly. Who cares about décor, these folks know how to cook! On our more recent visit, I opted for the smoked chicken ravioli with a creamy basil sauce, and Harry selected the spicy Italian sausage ravioli with a thick, meaty red sauce. I also saved room for dessert, a tangy, smooth slice of lemon cheesecake, a perfect counterpoint to my meal. We’ve found the service friendly and attentive, and everything we’ve tried shows a skill in combining flavors and textures to create delectable plates. Wiley’s obviously listens to its customers: Our server gave us a small slip of paper on which we could submit our own recommendation for a unique ravioli dish; the winning entry will appear on the menu in the near future. We took it home to ponder a bit, along with half a loaf of that bread, a pint of the salad dressing, and a few containers of Black Bear and Italian sausage raviolis. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor