If you think NoHo restaurants Il Buco and its offshoot Alimentari e Vineria are exquisitely appointed (and who wouldn’t?), take note: owner Donna Lennard wants to decorate your apartment.
Lennard, who opened Il Buco as an antique store two decades ago, is returning to her roots with Il Buco Vita, a new showroom on the second floor of 51 Bond Street.
“This is something that’s been in the works for 10 years,” she told B+B. That’s when she took up with what she calls her “Italian brothers,” Lorenzo and Antonello Radi, who know a thing or two about interior design: the first is an architect who, among other things, designs Brunello Cucinelli stores, and the second is a banker and collector whose palazzo has been featured in Elle Decor (they’re also minor partners in Il Buco Alimentari).
Together with the cousins, Lennard has developed a line of homewares based on artisan goods from central and southern Italy. She’s working with glassblowers and ceramic artists from Marche, Umbria and outside of Siena. Walk the homey loft space’s wood plank floors and you’ll find bee’s wax candles from Assisi, fabrics and linens from Umbria, stone mortars and pestles, handmade wire baskets lined with cotton sacks, cutting boards made from new and recycled wood, plus a smattering of antiques. The store will eventually expand to include cashmeres and robes as well as a line of fragrances and cosmetic lotions made from Il Buco’s custom olive oil, salt and vinegar, which are also available for purchase.
Through the holidays, Il Buco Vita is open from Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sat and Sun from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.