Barbuto in New York City

In December I ate at Barbuto, a lively casual restaurant near the Meat Packing District in New York. The chef/owner Jonathan Waxman, a good friend, really loves coming up with delicious Italian-inspired dishes and he has a great group of fun people working for him. Here are my photos of the dish from Barbuto and Justin, the chef de cuisine.

According to Giuliano Bugialli in his new book on Parma, mostardo is a condiment often eaten with boiled meats in Italy and can also be served with fresh or hard cheese. It is usually carefully candied fresh fruit marinated in a sugar syrup flavored with the must of wine and mustard seeds. Must is unfermented grape juice and can be found in specialty stores but it’s fine to substitute a little red or white wine with balsamic vinegar in this recipe.

Quinces are even harder to find than must. It is an autumn fruit that is very interesting to cook; however, Asian pears are much easier to find. You may not need all the pear mostarda in this recipe, so try some with cream cheese as an hors d’oeuvre. (I did try this recipe with mustardo that I bought in an Italian specialty store, but found it way too sweet with the ribs and cabbage.)

BARBUTO
775 Washington Street
@West 12th Street
New York, NY 10014
212.924.9700
www.barbutonyc.com.