Profile

Italian for "bearded", Barbuto is the rustic, rambling restaurant that shares space with Industria Superstudio, in a converted warehouse and garage, with eight separate studios rented for high-fashion photo shoots (sister atelier: Milan). Framed by hanging, pewter light fixtures, polished concrete floors and pleated garage doors that fold up, accordion-style, when it’s balmy outdoors, Barbuto still manages to feel like a languid, clubby patio deck shored up by whitewashed brick and candles. At the bar, a glossy, walnut, scythe-shaped affair, are plates of olives drizzled with oil. Fortifying autumnal picnic foods for when there’s a snap in the air. Locals dawdle over Peroni, their backs discretely turned to candlelit tables filled with second-date couples scooping up steaming spoonfuls of risotto and baked manila clams. A four-page wine list is provided, but dolce your vita and let the ducky guy behind the counter invent a shot on the spot. Years ago, a sweet, little sign on the door said to bring a sweater on breezy nights. The species really is much kinder in Tuscany. — Nita Rao

Related Stories

Featured In

• Cheap Eats Guide 2006 (8/7/06)