One of the great discoveries for Restaurant Week was Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria, an offshoot of the original restaurant that is also a market place. There, we had a fantastic prix-fixe meal that definitely made us want to go back.

Before I talk about the food we had there, let me talk about this place. So, it is a market where you can buy all sorts of products: salumi, cheese, pastries...

I like the decor that is rustic and warm, especially thanks to the exposed bricks. They sat us at the bar, overlooking the large selection of wine and the preparation of cocktails.

But no cocktail for me: I preferred a fresh squeezed orange juice that was perfect.

We decided to get their housemade bread for $1 per person. I admit that I was surprised that they would have patrons pay for bread, but anyway...

For the appetizer, Jodi decided to go for their housemade pastry basket that was served with jam as well as a succulent hazelnut butter that I simply ate with a spoon.

Too bad they were unable to tell me what these pastries were, although we could guess the chocolate donut, a cranberry roll and some sort of chocolate cake.

On my side, I decided to try their housemate ricotta. This was definitely a better choice and I definitely recommend this dish. It was served with some lettuce, cherry tomato for acidity and a white grape.

For the entrée, Jodi picked the Tonno or olive oil poached albacore tuna. It was like a salad, served cold. 

It was an ok dish, not as good as mine that was the eggs Al Forno or three baked eggs (with a perfect runny yolk) and culatello, a salumi I never heard before, that is apparently the most prized in Italy.

This was a fantastic dish, very comforting and perfect for brunch. The culatello was deliciously fatty and paired perfectly with the eggs.

Last was dessert. They did not have the selection written on the menu and proposed us some other options. We tried their raspberry sorbet that was delicious with the fruit really coming through.

And the chocolate budino that is like a chocolate pudding.

This was very good: dense and very chocolatey, I loved the fact that they put some candied hazelnuts on top that added some crunch on top of their delicious taste.

So this was definitely a great meal and I am glad we took the opportunity of Restaurant Week to try Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria. We will definitely go back for dinner!

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post, the photos or the blog, please feel free to share it or post a comment. Merci!