This year’s answer to eating at the bar? Dining at the grocery. Across the country, markets are doubling as restaurants, belying the adage that one should never shop hungry. Do both in style at New York’s Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria (53 Great Jones St.; 212/837-2622; dinner for two $130), a spin-off of the venerable Il Buco. Up front is the alimentari, selling house-made bread and salumi; in back, a convivial trattoria serves elegantly simple plates of grilled octopus, crisp artichokes, and spaghetti con bottarga di muggine. Under the sepia glow of rusticated pendant lamps, everyone looks like a walk-on in a Fellini film.
