I had never heard of Jonathan Waxman before he joined the cast of Top Chef Masters. But he made it pretty far in Season Two and the other well-known cheftestants often seemed in awe of his talent, which was good enough for me to add Barbuto to my list of places to try. However, the no-reservation-for-small-parties policy was a big turn off. Who wants to eat at 6:00pm? Not me, but I also don't want to stand at a crowded bar for 90 minutes until a table is available. Which meant I wouldn't be trying Barbuto until the summer.
Barbuto occupies a former Rolls-Royce garage on the corner of Washington and West 12th Streets. The restaurant still has enormous garage doors that completely open the dining room up to the street when the weather is warm. And since it was close to 90 degrees last Saturday night, all of the garage doors were WIDE open.
We were bold and arrived at Barbuto around 7:30pm, (I had hoped to get there earlier, but my sister is slow!), where were promptly told we would have to wait a little while for a table. No big deal - - there happened to be two empty seats available at the bar, where we able to order some snacks: an arugula salad with grilled peaches, buffalo mozzarella, and aged balsamic vinegar for Kristy and bruschetta with caponata and grated ricotta salata for me. And guess who was lingering around the bar while we enjoyed our wine and snacks? Jonathan Waxman himself! Quietly observing the room, sipping a cocktail, and all decked out in a hot pink polo shirt and khakis. Twenty minutes later, the hostess escorted us to a prime outdoor table for two -- right on the corner -- another stroke of luck!
Barbuto's menu, while seasonally-inspired and changing daily, is still a traditional Italian menu: antipasti, primi (pastas), secondi (proteins/main courses) and contorni (vegetables/sides). Even though we'd already shared some appetizers at the bar, we decided to split a pasta before each ordering our own main course. Actually, it was gnocchi, slightly crispy from having been sauteed, and served with with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and snipped chives. The individual little gnocchis were less crispy and more mushy than I would have liked, but you still can't go wrong with potato dumplings and corn. I'd order it again. For my entree, I had a grilled hanger steak with roasted whole shallots. It was excellent. They must have a super-hot grill in the kitchen, because my steak was perfectly charred on the outside and still pink inside. The serving was so big that I ended up taking half of it home. Kristy ordered roasted chicken with a fresh herb salsa verde. I don't get too excited about chicken, but it was quite tender. We also shared some kind of forgettable tomatoey-string bean casserole topped with breadcrumbs. That's all I can remember about it.
We were too stuffed to order any dessert and the large and loud crowd of drunk bachelorette party goers across the street at Tortilla Flats was getting annoying. So we called it a night and headed uptown with our doggy bags.
The verdict: very cool setting and ambiance on a perfect West Village corner location, but the food was just mostly great, not outstanding. Perhaps if Mr. Waxman had put down the drink, put on an apron, and headed into the kitchen, it could have been a home run.
**
Details:
775 Washington Street (between Jane and West 12th Streets)
New York, New York
(212) 924-9700 - don't bother calling if you're only going with one other person - they don't take reservations for parties of two
Dinner for two (with very little wine - I was still recovering from a margarita-filled birthday dinner the night before): $140
Mike and I loved it! Best squash blossoms since Italy and our waiter was so sweet and sent Obe-Wan over to meet us (Mike says he has never seen me so star struck). We would definitely go back!
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