Speaking of bread, when you sit down at your table you will be brought the most amazing rustic breads ranging anywhere from whole wheat to sourdough to olive. It’s likely that the loaves only came out of the oven five or six hours before you sat down, and when you take a bite, you’ll swear it’s the best bread in town—especially since it is served with opaque herbed deep green EVOO that is reminiscent of pesto.
HOUSE MADE IS THE ONLY WAY
We just had to tell Executive Chef Amelia Kirk that we were very impressed that so many classic Italian items are house made, and how the bread blew us away. We loved both the sourdough and olive bread and hope to go back to try new types in the near future, even if it just means running to the front store area to buy some fresh loaves to go. Which breads are the most popular? Kirk reveals, “I believe our most popular breads currently are the Filone, Olive Filone and Whole Wheat. I feel like the Filone is a very simple sourdough. We bake it with a nice thin crust; it has a soft and creamy crumb and a mild tang from the sourdough levain. The Olive Filone is a fan favorite because of those same qualities but with the addition of the buttery/briny olive. The whole wheat is pretty special since we are sourcing NY state regenerative farmed whole wheat that is stone ground in Brooklyn by one of the only mills here in the city. We tend to bake our bread slightly darker than most bakeries here in the city (resulting in a deep crunch in the crust).”
A lot of guests just come in for plates of the 15 or so cured meats made on site paired with the aforementioned breads. While Il Buco Alimentari can easily use the same imported meats that other high end restos serve, they make all their own charcuterie from Prosciutto to Bresaola (most of which are made with house-cured heritage breed pork).
Why go through all the fuss? Kirk answers, “Preservation is an incredibly important technique that’s integral to culinary development. It is an ancient practice that is worth preserving. The ability to cure and age our own salumi is a worthwhile practice to continue to produce for our company. We don’t know many other groups producing the same salumi. It’s such a gift to be able to train and pass on these techniques to future generations of cooks.”
FRESH IS THE NAME OF THE GAME
When the New York Lifestyles Magazine foodie team went to Il Buco Alimentari, we partook of some of the aforementioned cured meats as our apps and we have to now announce that you have not tasted great prosciutto until you’ve tasted it made locally! All the charcuterie was all great but we were particularly in love with the prosciutto as it was so fresh—just for the record, it was softer and less salty that the prosciutto that you buy commercially.
We then moved on to sharing a dish of Il Buco Alimentari’s much acclaimed homemade pasta and chose the Celeriac Agnolotti served with Parmesan Brodo, Sesame and Black Truffle. The warm, buttery sauce with hints of truffle was one for the record books of the city’s best sauces! The pasta was tender and almost sweet.
ENTREES THAT YOU’LL CRAVE
We were almost full by the time we got to our entrées. The Wagyu Bavette was served medium rare with Onion Escabeche, Raclette and Maitake Mushrooms. It was a generous portion of beef, about eight ounces and full of rich flavor--accented by the market fresh lightly cooked onions.
The Grilled Black Sea Bass is highly raved about on Yelp! and did not disappoint. It’s served with Squash Puree, Shrimp Butter, Fino Sherry and Roasted Grapes for an incredible mix of flavors.
We also split the Delicata Squash as a side—it was sliced with the skin left on and topped with Brown Butter Ponzu, Pepitas and Shiso. What a sweet and wonderful side (and it was actually healthy)! Our other shared side was the Roasted Sunchokes with Sunflower Butter and Beemsters Gouda. These sunchokes were roasted until they had brown and crispy edges, and the soft gouda was the perfect flavor accent.
DRAMATIC DESSERTS
The desserts at Il Buco Alimentari vary week to week but they will also be surprisingly unique; there are modern spins on classics like Flourless Chocolate Cake and Zabaglione. There are house made cheese platters and gelato selections as well. We shared the incredible Olive Oil Cake (which was topped with Poached Quince and Vin Jaune) and the Crostata (sided with Poached Pear, Fig Jam and Yogurt Gelato). Both items were served warm and the fruit used tasted fresh picked.
We asked Kirk what the most popular items on the Il Buco Alimentari menu are and she remarked that they included “the Lattuga Salad, Spaghetti with Bottarga, Whole Roasted Branzino, and Fried Artichokes. My personal favorites right now are the Chittara Neri A La Vongole and the Branzino.”
Being in a notoriously “arty” neighborhood, Il Buco Alimentari has a lot of customers with adventurous palettes. We had to ask Kirk about the mix of guests and she responded, “Our clientele is relatively varied; we have a lot of neighborhood regulars as well as longtime supporters, artists, creatives and out-of-towners.”
The bottom line is that Il Buco Alimentari is unique because of nearly everything being created from scratch right down to the cheeses. The staff is warm and will treat you like family from the moment you set foot in the door. The outdoor tables are great for people watching when the weather is nice.
Chef Kirk’s love for Il Buco Alimentari grows deeper the longer that she works there. She concludes with a smile, “I’ve worked in the restaurant industry over the last 17 years. The highlight of working at Il Buco Alimentari has been the ability to collaborate with talented people, and opportunity to work with high quality, seasonal ingredients. The history here is important to NY restaurants, and having grown up here, important to me.”
Coming up next for the restaurant will be adding more locally sourced seafood, and Chef Kirk says she is working her magic on creating different versions of crudo with citrus and the Japanese chili citrus paste known as Green Cara Cara Kosho.
For more information on Il Buco Alimentari, please visit ilbuco.com/pages/alimentari