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Barbuto occupies a large, airy space with curving, garage-style doors, which open up to allow café tables to spill onto the sidewalk. With the doors closed, however, the room has a bare-bones, utilitarian feel, enhanced by café chairs, white-painted brick walls, and an open kitchen, where chef Jonathan Waxman himself can be seen wandering to and fro like a captain on his bridge, muttering commands, popping tasty morsels into his mouth, and tending to the wood-burning brick oven, which flames away in a fashionably rustic manner, against one wall. The small, aggressively seasonal menu (it changes nearly every day) also has a bare-bones, utilitarian feel, although almost everything on it tastes good. For example, the spaghetti alla chitarra with eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano and guanciale, was a stand-out. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Risotto, $18; roast chicken, $19; hanger steak, $25

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New York Magazine Reviews

• Adam Platt's Full Review (4/12/03)

Best of New York Awards

• Best New Italian Restaurant (2005)

Featured In

• Places to Try Affogato (8/11/08)
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• Eat a Purple Cow: 21 Cool Foods (7/4/05)

Recipes at Barbuto

• Multicolored Pear-Tomato Salad With Minced-Carrot Vinaigrette (2005)
• Sweet Maine Shrimp With Fennel and Cremini Mushrooms (2005)