Lauren Bloomberg

Batali-Bastianich in a bowl

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It's so simple. Just a mess of al dente spaghetti, cracked pepper, and cheese. However with just three basic ingredients, a thing of beauty can be made. Cacio e pepe is a traditional Roman dish that is replicated throughout Manhattan's restaurants ... and at one very fancy supermarket.

Head to Flatiron's Italian-foodstuff mecca, Eataly, for a Batali-Bastianich bowl of deliciousness. Inside the store are multiple mini-restaurants, including La Pasta. Their $14 bowl of spaghetti Cacio e Pepe is perfect at lunch or dinner, even for brunch on the weekend. No frills, no gimmicks, and no gourmet embellishments, it's a straightforward dish that will satisfy your pasta cravings. And cheese cravings.

For more dining news, head to Fork in the Road, or follow us on Twitter.

​Tortaria's torta burger arrives looking like a brown rock with moss growing on top.

As we mentioned last Friday, Tortaria opened today on University Place. The place is devoted to making the Mexican sandwiches called tortas, to be washed down with an extensive tequila list, neat and as mixed drinks. There are eight torta selections, mainly priced at $7.81, plus tax. And of these, one turns out to be a hamburger.

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What's For Dinner? In which we ask random New Yorkers about their food lives.

Names: David and Miok.
Occupations: Editor and Financial Analyst, respectively.
Location: Brooklyn Trader Joe's.
Live: Married with two kids in Park Slope.

What are you planning to do for dinner?
David: Beet salad with arugula and goat cheese.

Is this a dish you make a lot?
D: No, we went to our local farmer's market and we saw that the beets were in season so we're going to make beet salad.

Which farmer's market?
Grand Army Plaza.

What are some of the things you got at TJ's today?
D: Well, Miok's from California so coming to Trader Joe's is like returning to Mecca. She went hog wild.
Miok: Dumplings, chicken dumplings, let's see, the beef tamales, always good. Chocolate chip cookies for the kids and just various other grocery items.

Are the kids going to eat the beet salad?
Probably not.

Are they junior foodies or are they on the mac and cheese diet?
M: More of the latter.
D: Organic mac and cheese.

What's For Dinner? In which we ask random New Yorkers about their food lives.

Name: Mike Duffy
Occupation: Events planner
Location: Union Square, sitting on a bench, enjoying the sunny fall day
Lives: In Pennsylvania, although he lived in New York for 20 years

Mike didn't want me to take a picture of him, saying that he'd like to "remain anonymous." He is a trim man in his late forties, with close-cropped salt and pepper hair.

What's your earliest food memory?

A birthday cake, probably. A classic birthday cake.

What's your most cherished food memory?

My time in Rome, I lived there for a while. It was just one great meal after another. It's wonderful to spend time with friends, eating and drinking wonderful food. There's a restaurant by the Piazza dei Fiori. I can't remember the name. I loved everything there: pasta, everything. The main would probably be veal saltimbocca; it's wonderful.

What do you think the main differences are between the way people in Rome eat and the way New Yorkers eat?

The ingredients. And here we just imitate a lot. And everything is way overpriced. It's not that some Italian restaurants aren't expensive; they are. But a good restaurant here is very overpriced. I like home style food, pasta with sausage or meatballs. It doesn't have to be gourmet.

Any places you enjoy in New York?

Lattanzi, on the westside. Everything there is wonderful. And for a more affordable night with friends, I like Sambuca, on the Upper West Side. It's a nice family place with good, decent food.

What's for dinner tonight?

I'm thinking about going to the Zen Palate, I've never been.

What's For Dinner? In which we stop random New Yorkers on the street and ask them about their food lives.

Who: Shameel Arafin
Age: 32
Occupation: Programmer
Where: Taking a break outside his office on Cooper Square

What's your best food memory?

My friend's kitchen on the Lower East Side. She cooks a lot and has me over. Recently, she made an octopus salad...skate...she makes all kinds of weird things.

What's the strangest thing she's ever made?

Bear.

Where did she get bear?

I don't know, she's French.

Did you like it?

Not especially. It was too tough.

What's the most delicious dish she's ever made for you?

The skate. She baked it lightly, and it had a light white sauce, lemon and white wine. I've known her for 12 years, so that's a lot of dinners. I have a French friend and and Italian friend, and they both cook for me, so that's good.

Any favorite restaurants in the city?

I eat out a lot because I don't cook. I like Soy [102 Suffolk Street]. It's Japanese comfort food; they don't really have sushi, it's more meat and potatoes...like ginger pork with pickled cabbage. It's kind of a divey place. The owner is a lady who used to be a handbag designer, and she realized there was nowhere to eat in the neighborhood, this was several years ago, so she converted her store into a restaurant.

I also like Yuca Bar , for a boisterous time. Burgers, ribs...mojitos are their specialty.

What's your first food memory?

Being forced to eat tomatoes by my mom.

Do you like tomatoes now?

They're okay. And spinach. I don't eat spinach to this day.

What's for dinner tonight?

I'm not sure, I don't have any plans. I'll walk out my door and figure it out. I live on Meserole Street in Bushwick. There's a place called Mojito Loco nearby. Bushwick is quite hip these days. It's not going to stay cheap for long.

What's For Dinner? In which we stop random New Yorkers on the street, and ask them about their food lives.

Who: Abu Khan
Age: 44
Occupation: Fruit cart owner
Where: Astor Place and Lafayette

What's the best meal you've ever had?

My best meal is rice and vegetables. My wife cooks it. When I get home, she fixes the dining room table, and we eat, and watch TV for one and a half, maybe sometimes two hours and then go to bed.

What kind of vegetables does she use and how does she season them?

Potatoes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot...I like mixed vegetables! And she uses chiles, mustard seeds and cooks in soy bean oil and mustard oil.

Of fruits, though, I like mango the best.

Are you vegetarian?

No! I like beef too much! My wife says I like it too much and my cholesterol is high, so she says 'No, I won't give it to you!'

What's for dinner tonight?

I'm not sure what she's cooking right now. Maybe something special because it's my son's birthday. Maybe biryani, and some spicy beef. Maybe today she'll give it to me.

Where are you from originally?

Bangladesh.

Are there any foods you don't like?

Actually, you know, I don't like fish. My wife and I fight about it all the time. She likes it. I don't like any kind of fish. In my country, we love fish, but with me, it is different.

Are there any restaurants you like in New York?

Sometimes, we go especially to an Indian restaurant in Jackson Heights, but mostly we eat at home.

Where do you like to go in Jackson Heights and what do you order?

Hut Bazaar, I think it is called. I get biryani.

What's For Dinner? In which we stop random New Yorkers on the street and ask them about their food lives.

Who: Rochelle Farley
Where: Corner of Broadway and 8th Street, buying fruit from a stand
Occupation: Home health aide

Rochelle didn't want me to take her picture, but she is a very petite, pretty, dark-skinned woman, with her hair in a sleek, short bob. Today she was wearing a fitted striped teeshirt.

What's your best food memory?

In Guyana, where I'm from, we have six different races, so we have many different varieties of food: Indian, Chinese, African...My favorite dish is something we call lo mein, but you would call it chow mein. It's like chow mein, but different—it's not as wet. We take chicken, green peas, corn and long beans and fry them up. When they're cooked, you add the chow mein noodles and toss. I can't find it here, so for me to get it, I have to cook it myself. That's as healthy as I get!

Do you get to go back to Guyana often?

I try to go once a year.

What kind of fruit did you just buy?

Because of the season, peaches, nectarine and strawberries. But back home, my favorite fruit is mango.

What's for dinner tonight?

Oh, I don't eat! I don't have time. I take care of an elderly lady here, and I live in the Bronx. I leave at six in the morning and get home at eight.

But you must eat something!

It depends what time I get home. If I get in early, I have me a cup of tea and a slice of bread and cheese. That's it. In the morning, I have a can of Ensure on the way to work. Then when I get here, I have tea and a roll. That carries me till lunch. Sometimes for lunch, I get junk. French fries, chicken wings, chicken sandwich...Salads and stuff like that I stay away from. No health food.

Who: William Sullivan
Where: Construction site, the Bowery and East 4th Street
Occupation: Geotechnical engineer, foundation work

What's the best meal you've ever eaten?

That's going to be hard to say...My mom makes this chicken fricasse; she only makes it about twice a year, and when she does, she makes a lot, enough for two days. We had our big family party three weeks ago; my little sister, my nieces, my parents and I all got together and we had the chicken fricasse.

What do you like about that dish?

She makes it with spices and minced onion. It's a little like barbecue, it's a little sweet. And my mom always picks out the perfect chicken quarters. She marinates the chicken for 24 hours. That's the best part—when you see it marinating in the fridge, you know it's coming. And we always pick our own vegetables to go on the side, usually zucchini. We have a farm in Marbletown, New York, and I commute down here. The farm was my great-grandfather's and we've kept it in the family.

What do you do?

I'm 4th generation construction. My great-grandfather helped build the Brooklyn Bridge. My grandfather worked with Robert Moses. My father was an engineer, and now I do foundation work for a geotechnical firm. That's a relatively new term, it means we work with earth.

What do you grow on your farm?

We grow alfalfa, hay, corn for silage. It's basically used to grow feed for our neighbor's beef farm. We used to produce dairy for Dairylee, out of Boston. They'd come all the way down for our milk because they say the alfalfa that grows in the Hudson Valley makes the milk and cream sweeter.

Do you like to eat out anywhere in the city?

When we're working, we call any local deli for sandwiches—whichever is fastest and has the best deals. I work around here quite a bit. But I'm not a big spender in restaurants.

What's for dinner tonight?

Probably roast beef and potatoes.

Sounds good! Will you cook it?

No, my mom still likes to treat me like a baby! But I've got to water my 40 tomato plants every night when I get home. I've got all different varieties: heirlooms and beefsteaks and pear light salt cherries. My mom and dad like to have the low-salt tomatoes.

The second installment of "What's for Dinner?" a new feature in which we interview random New Yorkers about their food lives, including where they like to eat in the city, their best and worst food memories and what's for dinner.

Name: Nassar Hasar
Age: He'd prefer not to say
Occupation: Street cart owner and cook
Location: At his cart, on Astor Place (at Lafayette) south side of the street

What's your best food memory?

The foods I ate in Egypt: chicken gyro, falafel, baba ganoush, eggplant, fried potatoes...

Did you cook all that for yourself or did your family also cook?

No, only me, I ate that at home.

How did you learn to cook?

My brother taught me.

When did you come to the US?

In 1999.

Do you miss Egypt and Egyptian food?

Yes, everyone misses their country. I come here for the work, that's it.

Is there anyplace in New York that serves good Egyptian food?

In Queens, around 28th Street and Astoria Boulevard, there are a lot of Arabic restaurants. I like Sabry's.

What do you get there?

Anything, different Arabic foods, they have any fish you like. I sometimes get fish, sometimes kabobs.

What's for dinner tonight?

Tonight? [laughs] I don't know. Last night I had bread, salad and chicken. Pita bread, salad with tomato, lettuce, little stuff. The chicken, I make it like curry. I put black pepper, salt, vinegar and garlic.

Today, I'm launching a series called "What's for Dinner?" I'll stop and talk to random New Yorkers on the street about their best and worst food memories, where they like to eat in New York, and what's for dinner that night.

Who: Shannon Rhinehardt
Age: 68
Occupation: Retired
Where: Waiting for the bus in Astor Place

What's your best food memory?

For the last five years, I've been traveling in Italy. And you know, they don't use a whole lot of sauce on their cuisine. It's just the ingredients and the seasoning. They can walk out and get olives, pick basil and use what they have to mix something up. One of the best things was the salad they make with day-old bread. A lot of the time, you'd prepare something for which you already have the ingredients around. Maybe you have some tomatoes that aren't perfect, but they'll suffice, you have the bread from yesterday...that's the best.

And what's the worst meal you've ever had?

An in-house catered meal at a reception at my church. It was cold.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York?

No, because at this time there are too many! But I'm in the East Village, and I recently discovered this tiny restaurant called 25-something, it's on Avenue B between 10th and 11th. I don't know what you call this kind of cooking, but it serves steaks and chops, and there's usually a special. People want more for their money these days, not a tiny, beautiful creation.

What's for dinner tonight?

I'm going Caribbean on you! I've got some salted fish, called bacalao, and I'm turning it into a big salad with red onions and peppers, okra, green peas and diced potatoes. Once you get the salt out of the fish, you stir fry it in olive oil until the fish becomes almost like angel hair. You sauté all the ingredients separately, then you incorporate them. You could use any leftovers you have. I love those vegetables with the fish.

That sounds amazing! I wish I was having dinner at your house!

God has spared me to enjoy these things, and hopefully I will continue to enjoy them.