Today's "very specific craving of the day", is the Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe from Via Carota. Caciopepz is what I like to call it.

This dish is made of perfectly chewy home-made pasta with cheese, cracked black pepper, and butterrrr. If those ingredients don’t make you drool, I don’t know what will because this never fails to satisfy my deep cheesy carby cravings.

This place typically has a 2-hour wait but I especially love to come here for an early lunch on a sunny Saturday. I like to sit outside, sip on a glass of spremuta and people watch while waiting for my table. The brick walls, the communal tables, the old chapel chairs and big burlap sacks of onions and apples gives it a very charming and rustic vibe. It reminds me almost of an Italian neighborhood trattoria.

Every time I come here, I sit at a different table and come with different people so I get to try something new. But the meal always starts off with a teeny dish of their plump Castelveltrano olives. The caciopepz is an obvious staple and of course the supporting star of the show is the Cibreo Toscana which is braised chunky chicken liver on toast. Every bite is as hearty and comforting as the next. It's a dream come true for chicken liver lovers like myself.

This place is definitely one of my favorite spots in the city. There's just something so familiar and homey about it, as if an old friend’s nonna was in the back cooking.