Man oh man, was @paddyhills.sg a delight! I decided to treat myself to a soothing meal today, and tucked into a plate of Pink Rigatoni ($25). The snowy shavings of mild Parmesan brought a soft, cloud-like texture to the cacio e pepe - basically a fancy way to describe the creamy cheese and peppery sauce that coated the al dante rigatoni (those tube-like pasta bits). You'd expect something heavy and tiresome, but the plateful of rigatoni was instead comforting and lip-smacking good. The cheese and pepper sauce was just thick enough to generously coat each tube of pasta, and the surprise burst of pepper, caught the attention of each diner from the first bite. Here, the flavour in this pasta dish comes from slivers of chewy, sinful lardo. Now, what is lardo? That's basically cured strips of fatback - literally the fat off a pig's back. Think... Thick, chewy slices of bacon with an enhanced salami-like flavour. I adored how beautifully they were plated, the pale tubes artfully dressed upon a thin layer of tasty Mentaiko, that sadly was just decor, was only just thick enough for me to scrap.