Lazy Suzy is one of SoHo’s most distinctive new openings: a Canto-American restaurant and drinking hole from chef-owner Natalie Ngan, tucked away in a basement space off Staunton Street. The kitchen takes familiar flavours and twists them into something playful and unexpected, like squid toast or carbonara rice cake.Mapo tofu, for example, is turned into a cheeky, comfort-first mac and cheese, layering mala heat, minced pork and a four-cheese sauce over chifferi rigati pasta – a dish that feels both nostalgic and a little mischievous.“It was probably a late-night idea pop,” explains Ngan. “I wanted a fun play on a classic [and] I think I got the idea while eating mapo tofu.”Lazy Suzy’s mac n’ cheese. Photo: Jocelyn TamHaving grown into a restaurant signature, there’s no doubt that the creamy, spicy pasta has the cheese pull of your dreams, plus enough heat to keep things interesting.Ngan settled on chifferi rigati pasta. “It’s one of my favourite pasta shapes. I think it holds a lot of the sauce and it’s got a nice texture to it,” she explains. As she says this, she’s cooking the pasta with a secret blend of mala spices and minced pork, which gives the mac its savoury backbone, while cream is combined with the sauce to keep it from feeling heavy.Ngan says she wanted to soften the mala spice with lighter-flavoured cheeses, admitting she doesn’t actually love cheese herself. “I relied on people who did to help perfect the cheese blend after creating the mala cream base.”Lazy Suzy’s mac n’ cheese is topped with light-flavoured cheeses including Parmesan, white cheddar and white sharp. Photo: Jocelyn TamThis mix of Parmesan, white cheddar and white sharp is added, and mozzarella is sprinkled on top. Then it’s finished under a salamander grill to slightly crisp the top layer while everything else melts evenly through the pasta.