It’s not a place where you will eat your weight in breadsticks. It’s something different. Osteria Papavero fans lovingly refer to the restaurant as the “Italian shack,” a place where the menu changes often with dishes that may showcase such ingredients as wild boar or octopus.  Leaning against the simple but elegant bar with the night’s menu in front of him, chef-owner Francesco Mangano talks about his latest food cravings.

There’s the pizza he hopes to have when he travels back to Italy and the pastry shop he always patronizes for a late-night guilty pleasure. “I need to have a craving for what I’m eating,” he says. “It can’t be just a pretty plate.” He hopes people experience similar cravings for themselves at Osteria Papavero, the restaurant on East Wilson Street he’s owned for 17 years.