Osteria La Buca Expands Again, New Interior On The Way

Last week Eater heard that neighborhood Italian staple Osteria La Buca had plans to shutter for a week, at which time the restaurant would remodel and expand its bar area plus hire a new chef and roll out a completely new menu. PR now confirms that La Buca will shutter on March 27 for nine days while the restaurant branches out next door and designer Brendan Ravenhill transforms its interior. Note, this is not La Buca's first expansion. In 2008 owner Graham Snyder grew the restaurant from a tiny 20-seater into its current incarnation.

So, what should faithful patrons expect from Osteria La Buca 3.0? Firstly, remember how the restaurant was going to open a retail shop? That empty neighboring space (eastern wall) is now part of La Buca and will become the eatery's main entrance displaying shelves stocked with larder goods. Built-in seating and an elongated table will wrap the circumference of the room where guests can sample wine and charcuterie.

To the rear will sit a wine vault, and above that a glass-paned “Pasta Room.” During the day pasta will be produced for service, and during the evening the room will be used as a private dining room. Design-wise, expect three of the walls within the new room to be upholstered with distressed, reclaimed barn wood, the fourth wall will disappear and serve as the entrance into La Buca's main dining room.

But wait, still more changes. No more marble bar top, it has been replaced by molded zinc, no more enomatic wine dispenser, and hand-built high rise seating designed by Ravenhill replace those old bar stools. Pretty much all furnishings have ben switched out too by those of Ravenhill’s design – chairs and tabletops, lighting fixtures, and accessories. There's new booths, new outdoor signage (up above), overall Ravenhill has re-outfitted the space into a weathered wood wonderland.
·Osteria La Buca Expands Into Retail [~ELA~]