Restaurant Review: Il Buco, Sorrento, Italy
Food
Audio By Carbonatix
By Aimee McCullough, editor in chief
Restaurant Review:
Il Buco, Sorrento, Italy
This past August, I had the pleasure of dining at Il Buco in Sorrento while on vacation with my family in Italy. We ate at many great restaurants, but their beautiful food and the service they showed us really went unmatched. They do have the distinction of one Michelin star, and I believe it is very well earned. From the moment we arrived, they treated us with warmth like we were family—Kevin was even treated to a tour of the restaurant and kitchens by Chef Peppe Aversa.
Upon being seated, we ordered cocktails and they were expertly mixed right in front of us. Perfectly balanced and beautiful as well as delicious. The menu had a tasting menu option that looked amazing, and if I were there with only my husband—no kids—I would have absolutely opted for that. My kids, however, weren’t quite ready for such an extensive dining experience, so we ordered a few starters and then our own main courses. Our host who guided us through our evening there also made sure to tell us that the kitchen would make anything the kids wanted—even if it wasn’t on the menu. Our son requested pasta bolognese and they happily obliged.
Some of the appetizers we started with were: Lobster, seared on vegetable couscous, with caramelized pineapple, celery and cashews sauce. The lobster was perfectly cooked and tender. The couscous added a lovely texture contrasted by the creamy but bright and tangy sauce. It was decadent but light and delicate.
We also tried the Seared Octopus—a favorite of my fifteen year old son. The tentacles were served alongside escarole, with a garlic crumble and saffron sauce. They were seared to perfection and so tender. The escarole added some bitter contrast, while the saffron sauce was a beautiful complement.
My daughter wanted to try the Beef Tacos on the appetizer menu, and they were delicious, or so she said. She had them as her dinner entree and loved them. They were miniature-sized and filled with beef stew, marinated vegetables and capers mayonnaise.
We then moved on to the main courses of our dinner. I enjoyed the Seabass—perfectly cooked with crispy skin, on celeriac cream with a variation of radish, seaweed and lemon sauce. The celeriac cream was similar to a very delicate potato puree, with the radish and seaweed bringing in a lovely crunchy texture, all brightened by the lemon sauce. I relished every bite and am still thinking about it five months later.
My husband Kevin ordered the Lamb Laticauda served with seasonal vegetables and beer-braised onions. It also had a generous shaving of black truffle on top. The lamb was tender and perfectly medium rare, and the sauce was so flavorful without being heavy.
And like I mentioned above, they offered to make my kids anything they wanted off-menu, and my thirteen year old asked for bolognese. The kitchen happily obliged and it was beautiful. I didn’t get a bite of it, but he declared it the best Bolognese of his life. Just the fact that they offered that accommodation really made the dining experience so special overall.
Of course after dinner we also enjoyed several of their desserts. My kids all tried their different gelato, which they loved, and we also tried the Chocolate Mousse and their Tiramisu. The chocolate mousse consisted of a Grand Marnier chocolate cube with a heart of orange caramel, and popcorn bavarois that was incredibly rich and decadent. The Tiramisù was their interpretation with a silky mascarpone and coffee mousse.
The evening at Il Buco was truly a dream dinner experience. The flavors of every dish there were perfectly executed with elevated presentation, while simultaneously making us feel at home in a gorgeous dining room with precise attention to details. Every cocktail, appetizer, entree and mignardise was a work of art—a feast for the eyes as well as the palate—and truly a night I will never forget.
