Lol at This Wild Barbuto Les Mis Spoof Video Celebrating Its Last Month

Well, you can never say that the Barbuto staff doesn’t put itself out there. The influential California-Italian West Village restaurant is closing at the end of the month after 15 years, and “to celebrate” its last month, employees put together a very earnest, extremely ridiculous, and definitely over-the-top Les Miserables spoof video called “One May More.”

All the lyrics relate to the restaurant, but in the style of the Les Mis epic that happens before battle, “One Day More,” i.e. “one last chicken, one last gnocchi” instead of “another day, another destiny.” They do the whole song — harmonizing, multiple characters, dramatic facial expressions, and all. The video’s concept and lyrics come from the restaurant’s staff, which chef and owner Jonathan Waxman says are “the heartbeat of the restaurant.”

It’s part-cringe, part-charming, and fully impossible to look away from, but stick through it for some genuine chuckles and an almost startling Waxman cameo. If nothing else, the video is a reminder that hip New York restaurants are filled with some talented Broadway hopefuls. See the full video below.

Barbuto — which has endured as a destination since 2004 for iconic dishes such as roast chicken with salsa verde — will close at the end of May. The property has been sold, and the new landlords no longer want a restaurant there.