100 Favorite Dishes: No. 9 -- Bucatini Carbonara From Cafe Martorano and Martorano's Italian American Kitchen

As a countdown to the Best of Broward Palm Beach 2011, coming in June, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in South Florida. Send your own nominations to [email protected].

even by SoFla standards. But you don't survive 18 years down here without some serious cooking chops to back all that guido gumption up. Unquestionably, Martorano's two South Florida locations have chops for days. There plenty of reasons why you should -- at least once -- give a big hug goodbye to your wallet and take the plunge to eat at a Martorano's. For starters, the ingredients are of the best quality, and Steve and his chefs use them the way a doting Italian-American mother might (only this mother is covered in tribal tattoos and has 20-inch biceps). Also, the scene is completely crazy, and you're likely to catch a celebrity or three engaging in embarrassing "face full of meatballs and ricotta" moments. But mostly, you go for the flawlessly al dente pasta, the warming comfort food, and the way Martorano sauces everything like a courtesan working a pole. The bucatini carbonara is of that mold -- toothsome strands of hollow pasta larded with pancetta and shallot, cavorting in a drape of thick cream and set off by a single runny egg yolk. It's a dish as lavish as it is rich, which is why you should eat it sparingly and with friends. The family-size portion will allow for that; the price will too. But for pasta perfection, there's no other hands you'd rather be in than Steve's.