I realize the title of this post sounds a little too assertive and over-confident, but this is something I actually feel pretty confident about, at least according to my own personal (and, of course, superior) standards. As you can imagine, I haven’t experienced much of the New York dining scene over the past sixteen months. Even after terraces reopened last summer, with four children at home 75% of the time I didn’t exactly spent the school year hopping from one trendy new eatery to another. To be perfectly honest, I stopped doing this kind of restaurant-hopping many years ago, even before I had children. But let’s just say that Covid did nothing to change that trend. How on earth, then, can I claim to know what the best restaurant in the city is right now?
Well, let’s just say that Covid and children notwithstanding, I did have opportunities to eat at many different places in the city over the past twenty years, and that I cannot imagine many places can be much better than this in the city right now – if we remain out of the Michelin 3-star category, which I definitely have NOT frequented regularly since I have had children. Let’s say, also, that this restaurant is dear to my heart precisely because it is, I believe, the only one where I have kept going with my husband throughout the pandemic. It is where we celebrated our anniversary on a freezing November night, wrapped in blankets and woolen hats and only removing our gloves when our food was placed in front of us. It is where I met him for lunch when we had to make an important life decision together. It is also where we went on his birthday last week – a birthday which happens to fall on Bastille Day and apparently fated him to marry a French woman. It is not, however, a French restaurant, but an Italian one. And God knows how much I have complained about the ubiquity of mediocre Italian cuisine (and French cuisine as well for that matter) in this city, but Il Buco just never fails to meet its own high standards and is just all around the perfect place to eat and enjoy a meaningful - or just fun - conversation, in my book.
Over the past year, it has served as an anchor of sorts in an otherwise transformed city, and one of the very few places that has given me hope that New York will carry on and be returned, at some point, to its former glory. First of all, Il Buco did not close, which in itself is something to be grateful for when thinking of all the culinary landmarks that have shut their doors permanently over the past year and a half. But it also managed to maintain its spirit and was one of the few refuges where you could feel the audacious, fun and creative energy that remains the best of what New York has to offer. In a year when we have seen a gutted Midtown, so many boarded up stores and an alarmingly high number of homeless people in neighborhoods that used to be the heart of the New York business and night life, Il Buco has given me hope that all is not lost and that the New York I love can still be found on a formerly hipster block in Downtown Manhattan.
We usually get lunch at Il Buco Alimentari, a more casual place that doubles as an Italian grocery and just nailed its décor, between authentic Roman deli and just plain Soho chic. For dinner and fancier occasions we’ll go to the more upscale Il Buco (actually we only went there once, on that freezing anniversary night - I am usually perfectly happy with the Alimentari fare). As I looked up links for this post I found out that there is now Il Buco Mare in the Hamptons and a new restaurant in Ibiza, which is not exactly what I have in mind when I think of an authentic and quintessentially New York restaurant, but I will just choose to ignore this inconvenient detail for now, for Il Buco remains truly delicious, no matter its newfound global ubiquity.
First of all, whoever is in charge of drinks there simply created the best Negroni I have ever had (even in Italy) and probably also the best Spritz. I am not much of a cocktail person but I do recognize a perfectly made classic when I taste one, and Il Buco’s Negroni will just systematically put me in a good mood for the day - and not just because I cannot hold my liquor. Their pasta dishes are always original and spot on, as is the couple of desserts they wisely decided to limit themselves to – a panna cotta with balsamic vinegar and an exquisite Chocolate Budino which to me has the best texture a chocolate pudding could have. They also serve an olive oil cake that I haven’t tried yet. Anyway, as you will have gathered, I am just in love with this place and never had a bad time, or a bad meal, at Il Buco.
Contrary to what I did with the Zuni Café, I did not have the audacity to try to replicate one of Il Buco’s pasta dishes (although I do remember trying, and failing, to identify what secret ingredients or techniques were involved in a delicious beet, burrata and pistachio salad I had there last Fall). But I did some thorough research (i.e. two seconds on Google) to find their special Negroni recipe, which I haven’t tried at home yet but am happy to share. It seems like the secret ingredient is some sort of fancy Sicilian (and organic of course) “blood orange Amaro” - which is one of the reasons I haven't yet made the cocktail myself, as this is not exactly something you would find at your corner liquor store, at least in my neck of the woods. The basic recipe calls for Campari and the Negroni at Il Buco definitely has a distinctive bitter orange flavor that makes it as delicious as it is. Whatever the true secret is, it is the best Negroni and one of the best cocktails I have ever had and I never start lunch without one when I go. Il Buco Negroni
1oz Gin 1oz Amara Blood Orange Amaro (organic blood orange amaro from Sicily) 1oz Contratto Rosso Vermouth Mix all ingredients in mixing glass and stir. Pour over rocks or a big rock. Garnish with orange half-moon and orange peel. Or blood orange if you have it.
(Photo by Serena Dai)
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