Il Buco, Stories & Recipes

Il Buco Alimentari is a storied restaurant on Bond Street, at the edge of Manhattan’s East Village. It’s known as a destination spot, famed for its emphasis on seasonal Italian fare leaning toward the rustic side, and popular with a somewhat glamorous crowd.

Given all that, Donna Lennard, owner and founder, could easily have produced little more than a handsome souvenir book and left it at that. Instead, Il Buco works hard to evoke the places that inspired its food, from the olive groves of Umbria to the wheat fields of Sicily and the salt pans of Trapani. If you want to essay the restaurant’s distinctive breads and pizzas, those recipes are here.

So too are a dish of grilled octopus with chickpeas, pan roasted gnocchi with mushrooms and sage, and a bowl of homemade ricotta with sugar snap peas. There’s a welcome freshness about many of the dishes, sure to inspire many comfortable cooks.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.