Casa Della Mozzarella

Orazio Carciotto came from Sicily and opened this sliver of a latteria on 187th Street in 1993; he and his son Carlo have been pulling mozzarella by hand in the window ever since, and plenty of serious eaters will tell you it is the best in the five boroughs. The shop is a deli, not a restaurant — a case of cured meats and cheeses, shelves of Italian imports, and a sandwich board whose Numero Uno hero made a New York Times list of the sandwiches that define the city.

Come in the morning when the mozzarella is still warm, order it that way with nothing on it, and take a hero to Ciccarone Park a block away. As a stop on an Arthur Avenue food walk, it is the one locals check you did.