Il Buco – New York – USA

Originally opened in 1994 as a rustic antique store on NoHo’s cobblestoned Bond Street, il Buco is today one of the most beloved restaurants in New York City. As pioneers on Bond Street, independent filmmaker Donna Lennard and her then partner, Alberto Avalle, invited their antique customers to join them for their midday “pranzo” before procuring a wine and beer license and creating an eclectic Mediterranean menu – part Italian, part Spanish, part invention — dedicated to sourcing the greatest prime materials both locally and in Avalle’s native Italy.

Today, Il Buco is an under the radar gathering spot for designers, actors, writers, and food lovers, inspired by great food amongst friends in the rustic European setting, as natural and elegant as the food. Donna runs the restaurant with her devoted team lead by Chef Roger Martinez and Wine Director, Roberto Paris. The wine cellar adorned floor to ceiling with more than 500 bottles, is the best-kept secret in NY private party spaces, rumored to have been the inspiration for Edgar Alan Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado.

The store’s original vision of a modern-day “trading post” dedicated to the exchange of objects, crafts and culture carry on today as il Buco regulars share ideas and delicacies across the table night after night.