Il Buco Almenteri

Mr. T and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last month at Il Buco Almenteri. This cute Italian restaurant had received so many accolades for its incredible food and rustic environment it seemed like the perfect choice for a cozy celebration dinner. Let's start with the good, like the salumi cured in house.  



These ribbons of prosciutto were some of the most gorgeous velvet cuts I've ever seen.  Just look at that rich, deep pink color...




My black truffle obsession was more than satisfied by these slabs of Truffle Tremor goat cheese.  It was cut with two sides rind, two sides creamy filling and served with a thick drizzle of fresh honey.  I devoured all three...silently pleased that Mr. T didn't want to partake in that wonderful funky flavor.


Unfortunately our next course Ricotta Cheese was terrible.  It was served ice cold with slices of even colder kohlrabi mixed inside.  If it weren't for the pungent bitter greens on top there would be no flavor to this dish at all.  Everything beautiful about ricotta was lost inside one big cold mound.



The special Black Truffle Pasta of the day was also a complete failure.  It was cooked to a consistency I can only describe as sticky mush with absolutely zero seasoning.  I had asked Mr. T how it was before I tried a bite and he responded by picking the entire bowl of pasta up on his fork in one fell swoop.  If that's not a sticky mess than I don't know what one is.


Ahhhh...but in between these two failures something amazing arrived the Busiate; an absolutely incredible bowl of squiggly pasta filled with crushed almond, anchovy, tomato and capers.  I've never had anything that tasted quite like this and it will firmly be rooted as one of my top pasta dishes of all time. 


And a little bit more amazing continued to arrive in the form of dessert with rich layers of chocolate and coffee in the Budino followed by some downright heart stopping gelato.  


We tried three different flavors in Salted Caramel, Milk Chocolate and Cappuccino.  Each one was so balanced; no cloying sweetness just pure, fresh flavors that seemed to go on and on with each bite.  We really couldn't pick a more delicious way to end the meal.

So we had some hits and misses but in the end it was a wonderful way to spend the night together.

Il Buco Almentari
53 Great Jones between Broadway and Lafayette
New York, NY 10012

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