Buca di Beppo is a neighborhood restaurant where guests feast on family platters of real immigrant southern Italian specialties in a boisterous, celebratory environment that recalls the Italian-American supper clubs of the 1940s and 50s.
What’s immigrant southern Italian cooking? It’s the hearty specialties of Campania, Apulia, Sicily, and the rest of southern Italy --dishes like Spaghetti Marinara, Chicken Cacciatore, Linguini Frutti di Mare, and Neapolitan Pizzas -- re-rooted and flourishing in America. It’s "la cucina povera" ("The kitchen of the poor"), clear of starvation’s shadow. It’s the marriage of Italy’s oldest cuisines and the bounty of America, rich in tradition yet alive with innovation. In fact, at Buca di Beppo, the immigration continues to this day. Their chef, Calabrian-born Vittorio Renda, returns to southern Italy regularly to search out new dishes to bring back to Buca di Beppo guests.
In immigrant fashion, they serve their food family-style, in portions meant for sharing. Buca is open dinner only, not only because it takes us all day to cook, but also because dinner is the meal of indulgence – the time of day when we can relax and enjoy the company of others. |