One of the West Village’s best restaurants is about to get that much better.
Barbuto is a new revival of chef Jonathan Waxman’s incredibly popular casual restaurant concept. Founded in 2004, Barbuto was something of a neighborhood staple, and was especially popular among locals for chef Waxman’s signature dish – his iconic roast chicken. Born in 1950 in Berkley, California, Chef Waxman is one of the great pioneers of California cuisine, and is often credited for fusing it with French cooking techniques and bringing it to New York.
Getting his start after culinary school at the legendary Chez Panisse, Chef Waxman would go on to found some of New York’s best known restaurants like Jams and Barbuto. You may also recognize him from his appearances on Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, and Master Chef. Sadly, Barbuto was forced to close in 2019, and when the team was able to pivot and reopen in a new location in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic was right around the corner and once again forced the team to shutter the restaurant.
Now, Barbuto is finally open to the public once again in a new location at 113 Horatio Street. With a bigger location and identical menu, the restaurant’s revival has earned rave reviews from the press, who continue to pour effusive praise onto Chef Waxman’s roast chicken. Even better, it appears that the team is planning on expanding the restaurant even further, creating a new space to host private events.
According to a recent liquor license application submitted to the community board, the Barbuto team is currently gearing up to transform its cellar space into a new room dedicated exclusively for private events. The change will see the ground floor occupancy increase from 74 guests to 160 guests, and will see the cellar’s occupancy increase from 4 guests to 110.
With about 3,833 square feet of additional space, the new cellar expansion will see the total number of available seats raised to 287. The space will be available for reservations exclusively for private events like birthdays, weddings, and corporates events, and will not be open to the general public. So if you’re a fan of Chef Waxman’s legendary Californian-Italian cuisine, now’s your chance to reserve your own dedicated space for your next special event. For reservations and information on the menu, you can visit Barbuto’s website.
