Interior shots: Alexa Mae Asperin. Food shots: Zandy Mangold.
“I’m sick of everyone doing pork belly,” says Leah Cohen, the former Centro Vinoteca chef best known as a contestant on “Top Chef.”
That’s why, at her new Clinton Street restaurant, she’s staying away from it. “We eventually want to do pork brains, ears and just everything,” she said.
Pig and Khao, her project with the Fatty Crew Hospitality Partners (Fatty Crab, Fatty ‘Cue) opened for dinner tonight, with a Thai-Filipino menu (below) inspired by the year Ms. Cohen, whose mother is Filipino, spent in Asia.
“Most of the cuisine that I had when I was traveling in Asia, like in Thailand or in the Philippines, the main staples were pork and rice,” said Ms. Cohen. At Pig and Khao (“khao” means “rice” in Thai), she’ll be braising, air drying and frying pork cuts such as head, face, butt and leg – with Thai accents of cilantro, lemongrass, basil and mint.
“We do a pork face, where we break down the heads of the pig and braise it, grill it, sauté it and chop it up,” she said. The meat goes into a traditional Filipino sizzling sisig along with liver, chili and egg.
If pig isn’t your thing, there are dishes like grilled curry lamb and whole fried fish with hot and sour broth, and Ms. Cohen plans to develop a few “full and hearty” vegetarian options. For now, they include spiced chickpeas, green mango salad and a curry noodle dish.
From an open kitchen, Ms. Cohen will preside over the kind of casual dining experience she found in Bangkok, where she indulged in late-night street fare including grilled pork neck with toasted rice. In the cozy dining room, photographs from her travels hang on the bright mint-green walls. At communal tables in the backyard, diners can enjoy wine cocktails or bottomless beers ($15) from a self-serve tap.
SNACKS
SPICED CHICKPEAS | 3SALMON SKIN CHIPS | 4
Russ & Daughters smoked salmon chips,chili jamSMALL PLATES
CUCUMBER AND TOMATO SALAD | 9
chinese sausage, toasted rice, shallot,coriander, lime-fish sauce, bibb lettuceCRISPY RED CURRY RICE SALAD |11
minced pork, crispy garlic, shallot, sawtoothcoriander, ginger, peanuts, lime-fish sauceGREEN MANGO SALAD | 13
charred chicken, lemongrass, mint,coriander, cashew, dried shrimpGRILLED PORK JOWL | 13
watermelon, chicharron, toasted rice,lime-chili fish sauce, herbsQUAIL ADOBO | 15
soy sauce, vinegar, szechuan peppercorns,crispy garlicSIZZLING SISIG | 12
pork head, liver, chili, whole eggKHAO SOI | 14
red curry, coconut milk, chicken, eggnoodles, pickled mustard greens, shallotsMUSSELS | 13
chinese sausage, yuzu, dashi, thai basil, friedmantao bunsGRILLED SIRLOIN | 15
lettuce, crispy shallot, spicy issan sauceLARGE PLATES
CRISPY PATA | 26
pork leg, pickled green mango, dippingsaucesGRILLED CURRY LAMB RIBS | 24
yogurt, pickled beets, whole wheat rotichapattiWHOLE FRIED FISH | 28
hot and sour broth, lemongrass, kaffir,tomato, oyster mushroom, cilantro, thai basilSIDES
JASMINE RICE | 3
COCONUT RICE | 3
MARKET VEGETABLE | 6
SPICY PICKLED CABBAGE | 5DESSERT
TURON | 8
banana fritter, salted caramel ice cream,chocolate sauceHALO-HALO | 8
shaved ice, leche flan, ube ice cream,macapuno, pinipigHOT TEA
GREEN | 3
ginger, orange, peachBLACK | 3
coco chaiTISANE | 3
peppermint lemongrassCOCKTAILS
P&K | 10
vermouths, aromatic bitters, angostura bitters, cardamom, burnt orangeLA COLADA | 10
amontillado sherry, carpano antica, coconut, pineapple, lime, mint, bittersPHUKET PUNCH | 10
prosecco, grapefruit-cinnamon syrup, mintCLINTON ST COOLER | 10
cocchi americano, hitachino white alesyrup, orange blossom, sparkling wineMICHELADA | 6
PBR, P&K sangrita, thai chili saltPX PUKO (COCONUT) | 10
px sherry, fresh young coconut water,whiskey barrel bittersSANGRIA | 10
white wine, red wine, pineapple, greenmango, papaya, assam skin, spicesNON-ALCOHOLIC
YOUNG COCONUT WATER | 8
SWEET & SOUR CILANTRO SODA | 5
FRESH WATERMELON JUICE | 5BEER
PBR | 3
12 oz. can
MOO THUNDER STOUT | 6
12 oz. can
PORK SLAP ALE | 6
12 oz. can
GENESEE CREAM ALE | 3
12 oz. can
SAN MIGUEL PURE PILSEN | 6
12 oz. bottleLARGE FORMAT BEER
HITACHINO NEST WHITE ALE | 20
720 ml bottle served hong kong style
KING FISHER LAGER | 11
22 oz. bottle served hong kong style
ASAHI | 13
1 liter can
TIGER LAGER | 8
22 oz. bottleWINE
PROSECCO
Fantinel | NV | 750 ml |11/44RIESLING
Michael Frank | 11’ | 750 ml | 9/36PINOT BLANC
Stallmann-Hiestand | 11’ | 1L | 7/35PINOT NOIR
Scheu | 12’ | 750 ml | 10/40TEMPRANIL
Pig & Khao, 68 Clinton Street (between Stanton and Rivington Streets); (212) 920-4485