Cacio e Pepe is a traditional Roman pasta dish. It is more than just a fancy way to say spaghetti with cheese. It is the best dish on the planet when done right. If you are in New York, go to Lupa in the Village and try their Cacio e Pepe (as a bonus, the last time we ate at Lupa, we sat two tables away from Alan Rickman). If you are in Rome, you can order it anywhere. Do yourself a favor and try this dish at a café (aptly) called Cacio e Pepe. There is no menu and no English and it is (or at least was) cash only. But go anyway. This is where I first fell in love with the simplicity and amazingness of cacio e pepe. It is also where an amazing Italian couple sitting at the table next to us held our six month old twins while we ate so that we could enjoy the meal. And it is where my husband and I both forgot our wallets (traveling with twins, people), resulting in his high tailing it across Rome to get said wallet while I sat at the table with both babies and hoped he would make it back before dinner was served. Did I mention that neither of us speak Italian?

Read More