Crispy and Peaches are in town for Harry Styles and staying in Brooklyn, so Crispy suggested Barbuto Brooklyn for dinner one night. peg, rtb, and I were available. rtb, violaleeblue, and I had eaten at the original Barbuto years ago and rtb had had the famous Jonathan Waxman’s Pollo al Forno, so I was excited to finally try it. The restaurant is next to Brooklyn Bridge Park on the ground floor of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, which has a rooftop bar where someone took the best photo of the Return of the Buffalo: Tatanka Owe Akupi grazing in the grass in the park.

Originally there was supposed to be six of us but that person dropped out. I was looking at the menu in the afternoon and thought that instead of ordering an appetizer each, we should share maybe one or two pastas and one or two salads as appetizers because they looked good and I knew we would all like to try almost everything on the menu. Turns out, the restaurant had a similar idea because I guess with six people, you automatically get their tasting menu. In most restaurants, tasting menu means a lot of small plates. At Barbuto, tasting menu means family-style big plates of food – enough to have fed 10 of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For drinks, I started out with a glass of the Cortese and later switched to a Chardonnay when the proteins came out.

On the table was the Spuntini – assorted olives and nuts and then they brought the bread with olive oil. Some photos were not taken until we had already indulged, so please excuse the pits and the last piece of bread on the plate. There were also very long breadsticks in glasses on the table. The bread had a hard crust and was chewy with lots of holes – just the way I like it. The olives were delicious as were the nuts.

 

The Antipasti was an Insalata di Cavolo (kale salad (kale, pecorino, breadcrumb, anchovy dressing) and an Insalata Mare (Montauk squid, Montauk shrimp, autumn greens, saffron aioli). I do not recall any shrimp and I am sure they called it a calamari salad when they brought it out. I am not a fan of kale – I still see it as plate decoration and do not understand how it became so popular. But I did try a little and it is probably the first kale salad that I liked and I would have had more but I really liked the calamari salad better and kept putting more on my plate. For five of us and for the size of the bowls, you would think that one each would be enough. Except they brought out two of each and I realized there was going to be a lot of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the Primi or pasta course. Gnocchi (wax beans, romano beans, scallion pesto) and Torchio all’Amatriciana (tomato ragu, guanciale, red onion, pecorino). Pesto is another thing that I am not a fan of but I had never had scallion pesto and it was delicious. The torchio was also really good and I could have scooped up more of each on my plate and called it a night.

 

Next course was the Piatti or proteins. JW Pollo al Forno (salsa verde), Beefsteak (NY strip, bordelaise sauce), and Pesce (fish of the day, which was snapper – one of my favorite fishes). On the side (Contorni) were JW Patate (pecorino, rosemary) and Verdure (Swiss chard, Bloomsdale spinach, breadcrumb). I did not try the Verdure at for two reasons – one I had had a lot of salad, so did not need any more greens but more importantly, chard is not one of favorites either. I probably should have at least tasted it but I was so full at this point that I wanted to pace myself. Again, there were two big plates of everything. I also do not care for rosemary but the potatoes hardly tasted of rosemary. The chicken was everything that I hoped for and that everyone says it is. There was chef interview with Tom Colicchio the other day on Instagram and when asked what should every chef know how to cook, Tom said, “Roast chicken.” Jonathan Waxman’s chicken is the bar that every chef should set his sights on. The NY strip was also cooked to perfection, as was the snapper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were plenty of leftovers to take home but I was so full that I could not imagine eating ever again. So I only took a drumstick and a potato for lunch today and now I am regretting my decision and wish I had taken more. I did not take any of the pasta or salad either, which is another regret.

 

Dolce or dessert was chef’s choice, so we did not know what we were going to get and they surprised with a most excellent tiramisu.

 

 

When I asked if there were any Ports or dessert wines, one of the waiters/runners said he would get the list. Our waiter came over carrying three bottles and held them out for me. He said I could taste them – all three – if I wanted to but I was familiar with two of the Ports and the third was new to me, so I decided to try that. That was the only disappointment for me, but that was my own fault for not tasting it first. There was a taste in there that I did not care for – I am thinking it was probably licorice.

 

 

All in all, a most excellent dinner and as always, even more excellent company.