the little water buffalo

One of my favorite restaurants in Sorrento is undoubtedly Inn Bufalito. This is a smallish trattoria-style place on a narrow alley off the main drag, Curso Italia. Around 75% of the tables are outside, in a front patio surrounded by low walls, but the whole front of the building is open, so there isn’t much difference. It’s part of the Slow Food network, having pledged to use only local ingredients and to cook the cuisine of Campania. The avowed specialties of the house are mozzarella di bufala and dishes using buffalo meat, hence the name. The service is friendly, not a given in touristy Sorrento. The waiters here seem both enthusiastic and knowledgeable, which is a help given that the majority of the menu changes constantly and is written in an untidy scrawl on a blackboard.

We’ve eaten at Inn Bufalito four times in three weeks; between Ellen and I we’ve tried a fair number of different menu items. I’ll hit the highlights here.

the decimated cheese sampler plate

On our first visit, we saw a mozzarella sampler plate destined for another table. As the server passed our table, I immediately declared my intention to return to the restaurant. We had already ordered, but I absolutely needed to try this. I was not disappointed when we indeed returned: the sampler is intended for two, but we shared it between three people and didn’t finish everything. Creamy-crumbly ricotta di bufala con miele nocciola (buffalo’s milk ricotta with hazelnut honey) was amazing. The ricotta had a grassy, herbaceous flavor to it and the honey wasn’t too sweet, but actually retained a slight nutty note. This we finished all of, I was practically licking the plate. (On a complete side note, I have to figure out a way to get hazelnut honey in the states. Totally different flavor than any honey I’ve ever tried at home). The walnut-sized boccancini had a firm texture, while the larger sizes of mozzarella di bufala got progressively creamier in the middle. The braided style had a totally unique texture, and was a bit saltier than the cheeses. It reminded Ellen of Armenian string cheese, at least in texture, and I thought the comparison was right on.

Yeah, it was that delicious.

Another memorable first course was the caponata. This dish is a little tricky: in Napoli expect tuna, olives and tomatoes with your salad and toasted wheat bread, while in Sicily eggplant is required and the other items are optional, except for the bread. At Inn Bufalito, they make a caponata siciliana, with large chunks of bread, tomatoes, basil, black olives and eggplant marinated in oil and vinegar, no lettuce. It was great, with enough dressing, but not so much as to make the croutons soggy. And they didn’t included a ton of tomatoes, maybe four or so pieces in a serving,  so the eggplant really carried the dish. It was robust enough to stand up to the 2005 Aglianico di Taurasi we drank with it.

Buffalo sausage! 

Among the pasta we tried, my favorite was the paccheri con ragu di bufala. Essentially giant size rigatoni with an awesome meat sauce based on tomatoes and buffalo meat. The lasagna was also great, made with both cream and tomatoes, ground buffalo meat and perfectly al dente fresh pasta. I’m still not sure how they achieved that. Another awesome pasta was the scialatelli with buffalo sausage. Ok, everything with buffalo and pasta was great. 

So this restaurant is great. You all should go, etc.