When dining out, it’s always fascinating to be seated next to people worth watching. And for our Buca Yorkville (53 Scollard St.) experience, we were in luck.
To the right: a Gucci-decked duo, silently prodding and photographing their food. To the left: a May-December romance wrapped in leopard print.
Buca
Salumi di Mare (3) $27
Cod Tongues $18
Pizza Caponata $22
Bigoli Pasta $24
Total $91
Beginning
With stomachs churning, we went for carbs. Instead of opting to stretch our dough for max nosh, we should’ve ordered with a touch of restraint. And wine.
Buca Yorkville is known for its maritime bent, so it was imperative we order seafood. A few Piscean apps to start: cod tongues and selection of three salumi di mare, a cheeky seafood makeover of charcuterie standards.
The duo hit the table at the same time, forcing us to first attack the quickly cooling Fogo Island cod. The deep-fried tongues with their gelatinous texture were held in check by a sturdy bread crumb coating. A hearty start.
When we turn our focus to the house-cured seafood, the side-striped shrimp mortadella, studded with pistachio and dried clay pepper, is our favourite of the treats.
Middle
And then our misstep arrived: pizza caponata. On the menu, it read like summer: preserved tomato, eggplant, zucchini, pine nuts and marsala-soaked raisins with a bit of pepperoncini kick. Scissoring the ’za resulted in great fun. After all, who wants to cut something with a pesky knife? But alas, eyeing the decadent fish plates arriving next to us: we erred. Buca makes decent pie but … raw sea bass with prosecco and lemon?!
The finale
Luckily, we redeemed ourselves with bigoli pasta. A swirl of duck egg pasta arrived swimming in duck offal ragu, mascarpone and basil. This standout dish was gone in a flash.
Stuffed, we spotted a tray of glistening nodini walk past us, realizing we’d forgotten to order those. Too late! We cursed ourselves for not getting them with our final $9. Next time we’ll knock back wine while inhaling pesce, nodini and bigoli. You live, you learn.
