110 S. 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
During the second week of restaurant week, I had my sights set on a place that I had been dying to go to for some time, another place owned by the fabulous Marcie Turney and Valarie Safran…Barbuzzo. Barbuzzo had been named a top 15 place to eat right now in Philadelphia last January and the best new restaurant in the “Best of Philly” edition of Philadelphia magazine in August. It had been getting incredible reviews all over, as well as being featured in Bon Appétit Magazine for their famous Salted Caramel Budino, which won the best dessert in Philly for 2011. I set out with two friends and my girlfriend to try it.
My girlfriend and I arrived at the restaurant a bit earlier than our friends, so we enjoyed a few Dogfish Head Punkin Ales. They are one of my favorite Dogfish beers, but I really like almost all of the Dogfish beers so that isn't saying much. Ha!
Its pretty small inside, but the decoration is pretty cool. It’s very modern, but still has a rustic Mediterranean feel to it. With the restaurant week menu, you were given a choice of an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert, and you were each brought two of the crostinis offered by the chefs as well.
The crostinis were a nice and light way to start the meal. Both were quite flavorful, but they were very different from each other as well. One was topped with radishes and a balsamic drizzle, while the other was topped with a chickpea puree and tomatoes.
For my second course I ordered the fresh buffalo mozzarella salad. It was quite refreshing and tasty. It was light, and didn’t take up too much space in my stomach so that I could still enjoy my main course and dessert without any problems of fullness.
For the main course I was super excited to try the rigatoni with the pork ragu. I have come to realize that when I go to a restaurant that serves a pasta with some sort of ragu, I must order it. The nature of the cooking process is what makes it so good I think; because it is cooked slow, it reduces in such a way that it pairs perfectly with the pasta and it intensifies the flavor quite a bit. This particular pasta with a pork ragu was rich in flavor, and incredibly delicious. My only complaint was that it was a very small portion, but I had heard some of the portions were a bit small at Barbuzzo, so I wasn’t entirely surprised. It was good enough for me to say you must try it if it is on the menu because it is wonderful. I also tasted my girlfriend’s gnocchi, which was pan seared and served with pancetta and a corn sauce. It was light, airy, and the pan sauté added a nice element of crunch to the outside of the gnocchis.
The star of the evening was the dessert course as I knew it would be. I had heard people raving about the salted caramel budino, and recently Philly magazine had named it the best dessert in the city. After tasting it for myself, I can tell you it truly is incredible. I have never tasted anything like it before in my life, and I have been dreaming about it ever since. Check out Barbuzzo’s website for the recipe if you like a challenge. It’s pretty complicated to make, but if you want to try it you can. I would eat this dessert every day for the rest of my life if I could, it is truly that good.
Barbuzzo really blew me away. It was my second experience at the wonderful ladies of 13th Street’s places, and I really look forward to trying the rest of their places. Barbuzzo was incredible and I implore you all to try it as well! Cheers!
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