La Buca restaurant with gluten free menu

Great Italian food: to absolutely try!

Today I had the pleasure to discover a newly opened Italian restaurant in Paris that has a whole gluten free menu: La Buca

La Buca is located in the heart of Saint-Germain des Près neighbourhood and it is specialised in recipes and dishes from Le Puglie, a beautiful region in the South of Italy.

I love Le Puglie: the blue of the sea, the sun that shines almost all year long, the olive trees that are more than 100 years old, the richness of its culture, all of that and much more make this land vibrant and colourful, generous and unique.

Now we can taste a piece of it in Paris, in all the dishes that are prepared everyday by Massimiliano, co-founder of La Buca along with his wife Joulia, and Giuseppe, the chef. The main products at the restaurant come from Le Puglie: from the famous Divella pasta to the renown burrata cheese and the extra virgin olive oil. The idea is to propose food that is fresh, not cooked in advance, so for example fish and meat vary on the menu according to what Massimiliano finds at the market that day.

Massimiliano tells me that it’s his wife Joulia who is gluten intolerant and she has initiated him to gluten free foods, to choose different ingredients and try new recipes.

Even if at La Buca the kitchen is one, meaning that food “with gluten” is cooked also, Massimiliano knows the risks of cross-contamination very well: all gluten free foods are cooked apart, using different pans, pots and spoons.

I chose to start with an antipasti made of a “terrine” of marinated zucchini and tomatoes. Delicate and tasty.

After Massimiliano suggested I had the “carpaccio pugliese” made of a velvety tomato sauce with eggplants, “stracciatella” cheese, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil. I did like it: all the ingredients were combined beautifully together and I took a pleasure at every bite.

Then it was gluten free pasta! For the Italian that I am, I do love pasta. I choose penne with cherry tomatoes, “caciocavallo” cheese, pink garlic and extra virgin olive oil. The pasta was perfectly “al dente” just the way I like it.

I also tasted the tuna that came gently cooked in a pan with vegetables: it was delicious!

Dessert or not dessert, well this time I said no to dessert (that is very rare for me…) as I felt completely satisfied of everything that I ate and I guess I didn’t have any room left in my belly 😉

However, in case you might be curious, the gluten free dessert proposed by La Buca is the “pannacotta”, a typical Italian, creamy dessert. Massimiliano told me that he is considering of having more in the future. He is also thinking of importing gluten free focaccia from Le Puglia…mmmh already dreaming about this one! I know for sure that it is very good 🙂

The design of the restaurant is cosy and warm: I loved the big, dark wooden beams and the yellow stone that is so typical of Paris.

Massimiliano loves receiving people; he is there to really listen to his clients, he is genuinely happy to make us happy. He told me that he was born in a family of people running restaurants for generations: his father runs three in the Puglie and here, in Paris, after having managed several places on the account of others, Massimiliano has decided open up his own. A new adventure had begun for him and I can’t but wish him well: I have chosen to speak on this blog only of the places that I like and La Buca has just joined the team!