Il Buco Hosts Its Fifth Annual Outdoor Pig Festival On Bond Street

On Monday, September 22, 2008, il Buco restaurant will celebrate its 14th anniversary while hosting its fifth annual "Sagra del Maiale", an outdoor Pig and Apple Festival commemorating the Autumn Equinox (when day and night are of equal length). The celebration will take place outside il Buco on Bond Street between Lafayette and Bowery from 1:00 - 6:00pm.

To extend the festivities, the festival will move inside the restaurant at 6:00pm and will continue on until 12:00am. Executive Chef Ignacio Mattos will offer all items from the daytime pig roast, along with a special a la carte menu.

il Buco will roast a 200 lb Ossabaw Pig "infernillo style" (literally "little hell") where the pig is slowly roasted between two large iron griddles with an intense wood fire above and below. This method ensures moist, succulent pork.

Select Menu Items 1 - 6pm

Whole Infernillo Slow-Roasted North Carolina Farmers Cross-Ossabaw Heritage Pig

Flying Pigs Farm Porchetta Panini on Ciabatta with Blueberry Balsamic Mostarda

House-made Flying Pigs Farm Pig, Apple and Peperoncino Sausage

Farmer's Market Panzanella

Julie's Wild Arugula with Lemon, Red Onion and Pecorino

Apple Ricotta Fritters with Saba

House-made Lemonade and Iced Tea

Tickets will be available on-site for $20 per plate including house-made Lemonade and Iced Tea. Alcoholic beverages including Red and White Wine, Prosecco, Lambrusco, and Wolffer Estates Apple Wine will be $10 per beverage. Beer will be $6. Tickets can be purchased on-site only.

Select Menu Items 6pm - 12am
*In addition to the above items, the following will be available.

House-made imported olives marinated in wild fennel flowers and fresh rosemary

Salumi, jamon Serrano, house-made coppa and lardo

Assorted Cheeses

Polenta with roasted squash, mascarpone, marjoram and parmesan

Pasta con salsa de noci (walnut pesto)

Panna cotta

Seasonal Fruit Tart

Menu pricing will be a la carte

Executive Chef: Ignacio Mattos

Dinner reservations will be available starting at 8:30 on that evening.

Many of il Buco's local farm producers will all be in attendance at the event.

il Buco will keep in line with its commitment to the environment by using only biodegradable and compostable paper goods, cutlery and drinking cups during the daytime festival.

About il Buco's Pig: il Buco works extensively with a rare breed of pig from Georgia's , coast on Ossabaw Island. The Ossabaw, left by the Spaniard's more than a century ago, is a direct descendent of the "Pata Negra", or black-footed pig so treasured for its flavorful meat. These Ossabaw pigs are raised in the open woods in North Carolina, on a diet of acorns and peanuts, both extremely high in oleic acid, the same fats that make olive oil so healthy.

Executive Chef Ignacio Mattos is from Jose Ignacio, Uruguay. A prot�g� of the renowned South American Chef, Francis Mallman. He has also worked with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, Spain's Mart�n Berasategui, and with Judy Rodgers at Zuni Caf�. As Executive Chef of il Buco, a beloved NYC establishment that has been open for 14 years, Ignacio has had the honor of cooking at the James Beard Foundation, has been nominated for the Star Chefs 2008 Rising Star Award, and has taught cooking classes with the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) and The New School. Upcoming events include and Italian dinner at the James Beard Foundation, cooking demonstrations at Macy's Degustibus, and the French Culinary Institute.

il Buco restaurant; owned by Independent Filmmaker Donna Lennard, is a New York institution known for its Mediterranean cuisine. Il Buco originally started as an antiqu