I’d been craving pasta for two months and was not going to give my re-virginized self to just anyone.

I’m glad I saved it La Buca in Sukhumvit–ten tables, a wall of imported wine, and Mr. Oreste, a dude from Tuscany who can motherf’ing cook.

Tucked down Soi One, La Buca is a genuine find. It’s not as cheap as the dives on the main strip, but it’s just…real. Oreste listed two specials when I walked in, then pondered a minute and threw out two more, both that he had definitely made up on the fly, given the ingredients in back.

I went for a simple salad and spaghetti aglio/olio but…eh…how do I explain this?

It’s almost a greater achievement when a restaurant can cook something simple perfectly, without over-doing it or taking for granted how easy it is. My eyes did the rolling-up thing after each bit– just the right amount of everything.

La Buca has an old-school dumbwaiter that comes from the kitchen, delivering goodness with ring of a bell that must have been created 30 years ago (zrriiiiiiiiing). Oreste grabbed a chair after I was done chowing, telling me his story as I pumped him for details.

He had been a cook for 30 years in Europe, scraping together enough money to start a restaurant somewhere. He opened here seven years ago, with his best friend telling him that he’d be closed within six months. He’s since given that guy the big Ba Fongule and kept a stream of steady customers.

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2007 was a big year but he admits things have fallen off over the past 12 months. Japanese businessmen aren’t walking in with credit cards as often and people have begun sharing appetizers.

It also doesn’t help that pedestrian traffic on this Soi is rather subdued, on account of there not being any chicks throwing their boobs in your face and offering massages.

I’m going back tomorrow, unable to control myself. Other guys may be headed for hand jobs around the corner but me, I’m drooling at the prospect of the eggplant parmigiana– Mr. Oreste promised me that he’d go hunting for the ingredients in the morning, excited to deliver something off-menu and requested.

I left just as a guy from Brooklyn walked in with his 22 year old Thai girlfriend. He sat down quickly and started ordering, not even looking at the menu. “I don’t care. Just give me some fuckin’ pasta.”

(La Buca. 220/4 Sukhumvit Soi 1. 089-2166514 or casorest@truemail.co.th)