Our friends and family know that we love to eat at expensive, upscale restaurants. We are seduced by ingredients like foie gras, truffles, and caviar (see Caviar Russe post as an example). But restaurants like Barbuto defy all that. Our dinner at Barbuto reminded me that it’s not always about the ingredients. Even with the most common ingredients, exceptional dishes can be made.
We originally decided to eat at Barbuto to help our friend score some AMEX points (3x worth; check out his hustle blog for points and travel tips). From there, it somehow grew into an 8-top affair. It worked out for the best because it let us reserve a private back room with a special chef’s menu served family-style.
The first dish we had was burrata over sliced bread. It didn’t look like much; kind of like cottage cheese on bread. When I took my first bite, I was surprised by the wonderfully creamy texture and a cheesiness that was slightly more pronounced than typical mozzarella. It was so addictive and we all wanted more. It’s amazing what a little cream and olive oil can do to cheese.
Our second course comprised of a plate of salumi and several plates of salad. For people who know me (and as I may have mentioned in previous posts), I only eat salad during lunch to be healthy and not really for pleasure. But these salads were definitely meant to be enjoyed. My favorite one was a melon salad, an explosion of flavors and textures that I wasn’t expecting from a salad. There was sweetness from cubed melons, crunch and a mild bitterness from julienned fennel, smokiness from slices of speck, and acidity from the vinaigrette. With everything in the salad, it didn’t feel like some random array of ingredients; the flavors blended harmoniously into a balanced dish.
The next course had my favorite dish of the night: a bowl of spaghetti in meat sauce. When I took my first fork full, I knew it was special but I didn’t immediately know why. I think we all had to take a second to break it down to really understand it because of our preconceived associations of pasta in meat sauce. The flavor started with a tartness, typical of a tomato-based sauce, but immediately turned a little savory from the ground meat. It followed with a mild umami note from the cheese and finally ended with the taste of the perfectly al dente pasta, mellowing out the tart and savory sauce. In the split second of a bite, it had all the flavors we expected from spaghetti in meat sauce. It took another second to understand that it was the flow and cohesion of the flavors that made it taste so delicious.
Ever since seeing it on Top Chef Masters, she and I were definitely looking forward to Jonathan Waxman’s signature roasted chicken with salsa verde among our main courses. The chicken had unbelievably juicy meat and crispy skin. The salsa verde was an herbal mix that tasted of chopped rosemary, tarragon and parsley. I learned from his cookbook that the magic ingredients are the mashed anchovies, capers, and garlic, which explains the pronounced saltiness and tanginess. All in all, it’s a perfectly cooked chicken with some bold flavors that I really liked. It seemed so simple; I wonder if I can cook it at home... The only problem was that I was so full by the time the main entrees came around.
I definitely want to go back to Barbuto to eat in the main area and try the rest of the menu. If it’s as good as what we had that night, I’m all for it. I still love my foie and truffles, but I definitely appreciate places like Barbuto that don’t need them to be successful.
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