Ravioli for vegan pandas

Finding vegan ravioli can be as rare as getting an internship at a nursery for baby giant pandas. Local fresh-pasta maker The Pasta Queen, however, has room in the program for wannabe bear nannies, so to speak. Roasted artichoke and spinach in red-pepper pasta and roasted vegetables in chili-pepper pasta are the two “pillows of heaven” listed as vegan on the Queen's menu, and there are sauces, too: arugula parsley pesto, Zesty Red, marinara, and Spicy Arrabbiata. Seek them out at the monthly Sacramento Antique Faire (21st and X streets on second Sundays) and the revamped Midtown Farmers Market (20th and J streets on Saturdays beginning March 7) and online for deliveries—rare, indeed—at www.facebook.com/thepastaqueen. Maybe someday the Queen P will make vegan bamboo ravioli with bamboo pesto for pandas, too, since the endangered bears' diet is 99 percent plants (bamboo leaves). Plus, that would be adorable.