Italian cuisine doesn’t get much better than Capers and Olives in downtown Everett — unless you go to Italy. My coworkers and I couldn’t stop raving about the new restaurant on Colby Avenue, which serves house-made pasta with seasonal ingredients in an intimate setting. I’m glad Sara and Sharon joined me for lunch. It was a thrill to find a gem like this together.

“I haven’t been this impressed with a restaurant in a long time,” Sara said. Grab a friend or two and eat family-style so you can taste as much as possible off the menu. The three of us split two starters, three pastas and a dessert. The very friendly and passionate Jimmy Liang, owner and chef of Capers and Olives, gave us his personal recommendations.