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There’s something to be said about limits: although New York City restaurants’ astounding variety of culinary offerings is certainly appreciated, being able to taste the entire menu at any given eatery is a unique—and very rare—gastronomic moment that should really be treasured.
That’s only one of the many reasons why Buba Bureka—the first-ever burekas-only destination in NYC, one with only four items on the menu—deserves praise.
Although the space at 193 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village only opened today, the business has already gone viral. Over the past few weeks, New Yorkers’ social media feeds have been drenched with the quartet of burekas served on-site by 32-year-old chef Ben Siman-Tov—also known as BenGingi on social media—and the on-point branding efforts put forward by his team, including an instantly recognizable red logo plastered all over the space and the pizza-slice-like boxes the creations are served in.
Everything at Buba Bureka feels simple, yet it’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into it.
Let’s start with the basics: the food. A popular baked pastry in Israeli cuisine, the bureka isn’t unknown in New York, but it has certainly never received this level of attention. The food is typically small—about the size of the palm of your hand—and stuffed with various ingredients, the most common being mashed potatoes, cheese, mushrooms and sometimes ground beef or chicken.
At Buba Bureka, the food is almost triple the size and features more creative fillings. The potato bureka, for example, is covered in everything bagel seasoning, offering a familiar taste to palates that might have never tried the puff pastry before. Spinach is also on the menu, but, here, it’s mixed with artichoke.
“Spinach is an all-time classic,” Siman-Tov tells Time Out New York. “But we wanted to make it more approachable, so we turned it into a spinach-artichoke dip.”
Only two other options round out the offerings: a cheese bureka and a corn one, likely the most surprising item on the list.
“We did a lot of testing when it came to the fourth option and eventually fell in love with the corn,” the Israeli chef tells us. “To us, corn is America.”
The limited number of items available was also an intentional choice.
“I am obsessed with places that offer a small menu,” says Siman-Tov. “I can go there with a friend or two and try everything. It's great.”
Each bureka is cut into four pieces, making it easier to dip into the crushed tomato salsa, tahini and spicy schug (a green concoction made with fresh herbs, garlic, spices and hot peppers) that it’s served with.
As seen all over social media, the food is also presented with a jammy egg and—for an additional price (totally worth it)—a bunch of olives and a plate of crunchy veggies.
The appeal of the food, though, goes beyond its very good flavors. Especially at this price (less than $20 all in), the bureka satisfies that in-between craving—when it’s not quite mealtime yet, but you’re in the mood for something special—that New Yorkers are all too familiar with. This fact isn’t lost on Siman-Tov.
“In Hebrew, there’s a saying that translates to 'closing a corner,’” he explains. “If you have the late-night munchies or maybe want to have a snack before dinner, you 'close a corner in your stomach' and have a little treat, and the bureka is just that.”
In addition to satisfying a very particular culinary itch, Siman-Tov hopes to re-energize New York’s street food scene.
“I think the scene should be more alive, like it is in Israel,” he says. “For us Israelis, the concept of bureka shops is the same as the pizza slice shops in New York.”
Whatever he’s doing, it’s resonating. On opening day, the shop sold out of the treats before noon. And plenty of folks around town are already familiar with the destination without ever stepping foot in it, all thanks to modern word-of-mouth tools: Instagram and TikTok.
Siman-Tov is no stranger to the power of the Internet. He boasts over half a million followers on Instagram alone, all fans of the various dishes he has been cooking on camera and will likely feature in his new cookbook, Eat Small Plates. Set to debut in September, the tome is a collaboration between Siman-Tov and his wife, Zoryana Zaryckyj, also a chef. The two also co-own the eponymous catering company Eat Small Plates.
As for the name Buba Bureka, Siman-Tov explains that it worked on many different levels.
“We liked that it had that repeated ‘b’ sound,” he says. “We also wanted a name that was easy for everyone to pronounce, and it has a nice ring to it.”
“Buba” literally translates to “doll” in Hebrew, one of the many nicknames Siman-Tov uses to address his daughter.
Perhaps most on-point, though, is the use of the term in his native tongue as an expression that means “chef’s kiss”—which is the exact action you’ll find yourself making when devouring the burekas sold here.