Leah Cohen of ‘Top Chef’ Opens Pig & Khao With Fatty Crew


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 | 3

SALMON SKIN CHIPS | 4
Russ & Daughters smoked salmon chips,chili jam

SMALL PLATES
CUCUMBER AND TOMATO SALAD | 9
chinese sausage, toasted rice, shallot,coriander, lime-fish sauce, bibb lettuce

CRISPY RED CURRY RICE SALAD |11
minced pork, crispy garlic, shallot, sawtoothcoriander, ginger, peanuts, lime-fish sauce

GREEN MANGO SALAD | 13
charred chicken, lemongrass, mint,coriander, cashew, dried shrimp

GRILLED PORK JOWL | 13
watermelon, chicharron, toasted rice,lime-chili fish sauce, herbs

QUAIL ADOBO | 15
soy sauce, vinegar, szechuan peppercorns,crispy garlic

SIZZLING SISIG | 12
pork head, liver, chili, whole egg

KHAO SOI | 14
red curry, coconut milk, chicken, eggnoodles, pickled mustard greens, shallots

MUSSELS | 13
chinese sausage, yuzu, dashi, thai basil, friedmantao buns

GRILLED SIRLOIN | 15
lettuce, crispy shallot, spicy issan sauce

LARGE PLATES
CRISPY PATA | 26
pork leg, pickled green mango, dippingsauces

GRILLED CURRY LAMB RIBS | 24
yogurt, pickled beets, whole wheat rotichapatti

WHOLE FRIED FISH | 28
hot and sour broth, lemongrass, kaffir,tomato, oyster mushroom, cilantro, thai basil

SIDES
JASMINE RICE | 3
COCONUT RICE | 3
MARKET VEGETABLE | 6
SPICY PICKLED CABBAGE | 5

DESSERT
TURON | 8
banana fritter, salted caramel ice cream,chocolate sauce

HALO-HALO | 8
shaved ice, leche flan, ube ice cream,macapuno, pinipig

HOT TEA
GREEN | 3
ginger, orange, peach

BLACK | 3
coco chai

TISANE | 3
peppermint lemongrass

COCKTAILS
P&K | 10
vermouths, aromatic bitters, angostura bitters, cardamom, burnt orange

LA COLADA | 10
amontillado sherry, carpano antica, coconut, pineapple, lime, mint, bitters

PHUKET PUNCH | 10
prosecco, grapefruit-cinnamon syrup, mint

CLINTON ST COOLER | 10
cocchi americano, hitachino white alesyrup, orange blossom, sparkling wine

MICHELADA | 6
PBR, P&K sangrita, thai chili salt

PX PUKO (COCONUT) | 10
px sherry, fresh young coconut water,whiskey barrel bitters

SANGRIA | 10
white wine, red wine, pineapple, greenmango, papaya, assam skin, spices

NON-ALCOHOLIC
YOUNG COCONUT WATER | 8
SWEET & SOUR CILANTRO SODA | 5
FRESH WATERMELON JUICE | 5

BEER
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. bottle

LARGE 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. bottle

WINE
PROSECCO
Fantinel | NV | 750 ml |11/44

RIESLING
Michael Frank | 11’ | 750 ml | 9/36

PINOT BLANC
Stallmann-Hiestand | 11’ | 1L | 7/35

PINOT NOIR
Scheu | 12’ | 750 ml | 10/40

TEMPRANIL

Pig & Khao, 68 Clinton Street (between Stanton and Rivington Streets); (212) 920-4485