The Allure of the Mediterranean is on Display at Bucatini
Shopkeepers Victoria Fayad and Sofia Stephens have stepped up to Sunset Boulevard and are now selling imported pasta, Portuguese ceramics, and more covetable European finds.
Photographs by David Gurzhiev
Those passing by the trafficky stretch of Sunset Boulevard on the border of Silver Lake and Echo Park on the night of November 29th may have caught a glimpse of a funny sight. 12 firemen were maneuvering a three-paneled commercial refrigerator sideways through the green-painted doorframe of a brand-new storefront. Victoria Fayad and Sofia Stephens, co-owners of the gourmet pantry and home goods store Bucatini, ushered them along. The shenanigan was nothing more than some friendly neighbors lending a hand: Bucatini, which opened to the public a few days later, is situated next door to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Station 20.
In fact, Bucatini had been operating covertly from the backside of the same address—2146 Sunset Blvd—for the last three years. Customers who were able to locate Fayad and Stephens’ shop via the back alley parking lot were rewarded with shelves stocked with imported Italian pasta, Spanish tinned fish, and elegant glassware found in Europe. The space was warm, compact, and anchored by a long wood plank table, like a cozy studio apartment fashioned into a standalone dining room. You’d pop in for canned San Marzano tomatoes and a package of dried Pacherri and leave inspired, dreaming up your next dinner party. “We wanted people to feel like they had found something special and maybe that they weren’t in Los Angeles at all,” Stephens says of Bucatini 1.0.
“By design, we made it harder to find us,” Fayad says, explaining that both of them had full-time jobs when they opened Bucatini at the end of 2020. Stephens was a production manager for artist twins The Haas Brothers, while Fayad had founded a fintech company. Keeping a low profile at first enabled them to change Bucatini’s hours on a whim, grow their following slowly, and embrace a loose, more European way of running a business.
The duo met on a double date at Speranza—Fayad and her now-husband were high school friends with Stephens’ now-husband—and immediately hit it off over a bowl of linguine alle vongole. Soon enough, they realized a shared ambition of making their favorite Mediterranean goods accessible within Los Angeles. Fayad had been sitting on the @bucatini Instagram handle for while and wanted to put it to use. It was several years before the great bucatini shortage of 2020, prior to the “shoppy shop” wave (including Wine & Eggs, Lady & Larder, and Gjusta Grocer) that swept the city, and the founding premise for Bucatini was the power of a well-stocked pantry. “You don’t need that many ingredients to make a really good meal,” Fayad says. The pair began to source products they’d come across while traveling and other items that “felt original and couldn’t be found in other places in L.A.,” Stephens says. They collaborated with fellow local pasta enthusiasts, Pasta Girlfriend and Selling Pasta. And they found a niche in gifting and private events.
Now, with a chic brand and a comfortable client base in the bag, the moment has arrived for Bucatini’s glow-up. On Saturday, December 2nd, Fayad and Stephens unveiled the street-facing Bucatini 2.0 just in time for the holiday season with more square footage, panettone and ornaments on display, and pancetta and Pecorino romano in the fridge. The next day, the firemen—who had barely clocked Bucatini when it was out back—invited the shopkeepers to the station for a Sunday dinner of garlic bread and pasta with meat sauce.
The vibe of Bucatini today is similar to its original form, just dialed in and elaborated on. The Sunset Boulevard shop is furnished with 19th-century wood furniture and artwork acquired from the Van Nuys home of the late playwright Frawley Becker, known for bringing English-speaking theatre to Paris in the ‘60s. Fayad and Stephens happened upon the last day of his estate sale after successfully negotiating down a cabinet that Frawley’s friend had listed on OfferUp. “He had a very large erotic book collection, so people came for the books and completely ignored everything else,” Stephens says. “It felt like a little piece of L.A. magic, the way it all came together.” Becker’s picture and biography are displayed in a glass case underneath the register, which houses bottarga and tinned fish. “Everything works so well because he curated it,” Fayad says.
All of the items for sale, however, from French ivory-finished silverware to biscuits from Emilia-Romagna, are curated by Fayad and Stephens. Here are some of their favorite things…
La Nicchia salted capers from Pantelleria
Stephens spent summers growing up on Pantelleria, a volcanic island off the coast of Sicily where her friend’s family has a home, and which is known for its capers. “It’s an incredible island with this very powerful and palpable energy and winds coming from the Sahara,” Stephens says. While there, she came to love the capers from La Nicchia, a family-run producer founded in 1949. “When we opened the box, it smelled like we were on a ship,” Fayad says.
Bottarga
Bottarga, or salted cured fish roe, is a Mediterranean delicacy that adds a rich, briny, umami flavor—and a pop of bright color—to salads and pasta when shaved on top. Bucatini sells it in two forms: whole mullet bottarga and grated mullet bottarga, both from the Sardinian producer l’Oro di Cabras.
Splatterware from Giulio Lucarini
The ceramicist Guilio Lucarini is based in the hillside Tuscan town of Cortona, where he employs a splatterware technique that dates back to medieval times. The rooster jug that sits behind the register and looks over the shop was sent to Bucatini as a good luck gift from his team in Italy. It’s meant to be a symbol of financial prosperity. They named him Ciccio (which means “chubby”). While Ciccio, understandably, is not for sale, Lucarini’s green speckled plates, bowls, pitchers, and espresso cups are available for purchase.
Flatware by Sabré and Laguiole
Fayad and Stephens are partial to French flatware. They stock several colorways of Sabré’s bistrot-inspired silverware and salad spoons. Also on display—until it’s claimed, that is—is an ivory flatware set by Laguiole, which comes in a beautiful wood case.
Alessi glassware
Bucatini carries an assortment of artful yet functional Alessi glassware, including espresso martini glasses and a caviar keeper. Perhaps the chicest of all are the Champagne flutes, which are designed so that bubbly flows through the stem, to the base of the glass.
Frantoio Galantino olive oil from Puglia
Among Bucatini’s olive oil and vinegar section is Frantoio Galantino’s Puglian olive oil, which comes in green speckled ceramic jugs. They’re not made by Giulio Lucarini, but in fact hand-painted by local artisans in Puglia. Galantino has been making everyday olive oil, redolent of almonds and artichokes, since 1926.
Bordallo Pinheiro ceramics
Stephens has been hellbent on carrying this legacy Portuguese brand—founded in 1884 and famed for its stunning, vegetable-shaped ceramics—since the early days of Bucatini. After a successful, intensive interview process with the company, Bucatini is now an official partner of Bordallo Pinheiro, and sells their cabbage serveware, half-cantaloupe cereal bowls, and tomato pizza plates in the shop. Bucatini also holds a copy of the extensive Bordallo Pinheiro catalog, which customers can page through and custom order anything they’d like to arrive on their doorstep.
Bucatini holds a copy of the extensive Bordallo Pinheiro catalog, which customers can page through and custom order anything they’d like to arrive on their doorstep.
Amora dijon mustard
Amora’s dijon mustard is a bona fide Bucatini favorite. “It’s the best mustard ever made,” says Stephens. She and Fayad bonded over their love of Amora during a New Year’s trip to Los Alamos at the top of 2020, when they found it at Bob’s Well Bread. “It’s bananas,” says Fayad—and perfect for making vinaigrettes.
Santa Lucia canned tomatoes
Bianco DiNaplo canned tomatoes produced in Northern California are the crowd favorite when it comes to canned tomatoes readily available at gourmet stores around town. Bucatini, however, favors Santa Lucia’s D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes for making tomato sauce. “These are the bougiest tomatoes you could probably get,” says Fayad.
Nettuno colatura
Think of colatura as an Italian form of fish sauce. Add a couple of drops of the anchovy extract to your pasta, and you’re in for a treat.
Martelli pasta
Bucatini stocks more than ten different brands of pasta. The one they recommend most is Martelli, a family-run producer in the small village of Lari near Pisa that makes double-length spaghetti, penne, and maccheroni in bright yellow packages.
Antico Pastificio Umbro
Antico Pastificio Umbro is one of Bucatini’s newer buys. The black cylindrical tubes of organic pasta, each type with its own theatrical character, are produced and bronze-drawn in Umbria, Italy. They’re already coveted by early customers of Bucatini 2.0.
Sahara foul moudammas
These canned fava beans come from Lebanon, where Fayad’s family originates. Within the week, Bucatini will also carry tahini, pickles, olive oil, labneh, and coffee from a variety of Lebanese producers. Given her roots, Fayad and Stephens are intent on expanding the shop’s offerings from the Middle Eastern part of the Mediterranean.
European cheese
Bucatini 1.0 did not have perishables, but at Bucatini 2.0, the refrigerator is stocked with cured meats, Rodolphe Le Meunier beurre de baratte (writer’s note: the best butter in all the land), Isigny Ste Mere whipped cream laced with Madagascar vanilla, and a selection of cheese imported from Italy, France, and England. “One guy came in and cleaned us out of low-moisture mozzarella,” says Fayad. (He was hosting a pizza night.) “And the Pecorino Romano has been more popular than the parm, which I’m shocked by.” The star-shaped cheese, packaged in wax like a Babybel, is an English cheddar made by Godminster. Ask Stephens to show you the proper way to open it up.
With the holiday season in full swing, Bucatini is a one-stop shop for food-focused gifts, like mushroom-shaped jars of Caffarel’s hazelnut gianduja-filled chocolates and Loison’s handmade lemon panettone studded with candied Amalfi lemon peel and lemon cream. They’re almost sold out of Christmas ornaments, but curated Bucatini boxes should drop any day now.
Elegant as it is, Bucatini is quite simply an everyday shop to grab a few ingredients for dinner. Stop in, and Fayad or Stephens might ask you what sauce you’re making in order to help you choose a pasta. For what it’s worth, they say that Angelenos—at least those who shop at Bucatini—are all in on lasagna right now.
your photos are so gorgeous!!