This Piora NYC Review is one of our many NYC Restaurant Reviews. Visiting New York? See all of our posts tagged NYC.
Piora has a Korean name (piora means “to blossom” in Korean) and you will find Korean influences on the Italian and New American cuisine of Chef Chris Cipollone, who partnered with Korean American restaurant owner Simon Kim, who previously managed Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery and Jean-Georges' The Mark Restaurant before recruiting Cipollone to start Piora. Piora has received positive reviews in Yelp and The New York times, so we decided to pay it a visit recently.
Getting to Piora
Piora is located at 430 Hudson Street, in the West Village, across the street from one of our West Village favorites, The Clam. The closest subway station is West Houston on the 1 train, or you can walk over from West 4th Street (A, C, E, B, D, F and V trains).
The Scene
We made an early reservation via OpenTable for a Saturday night, so there was only one other guest in the restaurant when we arrived, and the bar staff who greeted us were still preparing the bar and garnishes for cocktails that evening. The hostess led us to a nice corner booth, as I'd requested in my reservation. The dining room isn't large, and as at most NYC restaurants tables are fairly close together. That said, the ambience at least early in the evening, is lovely: greenery out the window, with candlelit tables and handsome exposed wood beams in the ceiling with recessed lighting.
As the evening progressed, other tables filled with mostly couples, both young professionals as well as some older couples, and the table next to us appeared to be a young couple with the girl's parents. There were no families on the evening we were there, but, while definitely a more formal environment than The Clam, I can imagine us taking the munchkin there for a future dinner, since there are a la carte options. Pretty much the only places I would not take a child to in NYC are the tasting menu only restaurants, such as Eleven Madison Park, since the dining experience is so leisurely that it's really too much for young kids (not to mention the hefty price tag).
Piora Menu and Food
Our server introduced herself, provided us with a menu and the wine list, and asked which water type we'd prefer. We perused the menu, which is quite compact in terms of choices, but our server also detailed several specials, such as a 40 oz bone-in rib eye, and also a tasting menu, which I believe was $125 per person.
Our meal began with a little amuse bouche: a cold vegetable puree with some thousand island spices, served in asymmetric shot glasses:
We'd heard great things about the Monkey Bread, so we ordered it, and weren't disappointed. It came as six rolls, piping hot in a cast iron pan, with whipped garlic ricotta and seaweed butter as spreads. The rolls were already deliciously buttery and adorned with some sea salt, but were even more delicious with the seaweed butter and whipped ricotta. The seaweed butter in particular gave each bite a delicious umami and recalled the seaweed butter we enjoyed last year at Le Cinq, at the Four Seasons Paris.
Next, we shared an order of Market Vegetables with Thousand Island spice. I initially wasn't keen on this dish as I've never liked Thousand Island salad dressing, but our server assured us there wasn't any dressing, but rather just the spices sprinkled on top. The plating was gorgeous–I don't know if I've seen a more beautifully composed salad. But do note that this, as with all dishes at Piora (except perhaps that $125 or so 40 oz. rib eye for two ) are served as modest portions.
For mains, my husband ordered the Rohan Duck with plum, beet and lavender. This was my favorite dish, with the perfectly cooked duck (Rohan is a heritage crossbreed of duck, with a rich flavor), which was complemented well by the brightness of the plum sauce and nuttiness of bulgur in beet sauce. Highly recommended.
I'd ordered the Lamb with artichoke, green garlic and marigold mint, which was likewise cooked perfectly and elevated by the fresh herbal notes of the green garlic and marigold mint. I liked it, but this was my husband's favorite dish, so we ended up swapping plates.
Given my sweet tooth, we decided to share a dessert. Here's the dessert menu along with digestifs and dessert wines:
I wasn't too excited by the choices, since I don't care for panna cotta and would have liked to see other preparations for the fruit desserts, so we opted for the chocolate with black peppermint and coconut. When it came, it was miniscule on the plate, so there wasn't much to share. There was a chocolate mousse and crumbles of chocolate peppermint cookie with peppermint ice cream, but it was nothing to write home about. Although Piora does now have a dedicated pastry chef, Ryan Butler, based on our experience, I recommend passing on dessert. Obviously we're biased, but my husband and I agree that even I make much better desserts. Instead, I suggest enjoying some gelato at nearby Grom (233 Bleecker Street) if you'd like a sweet finale.
The Service
Service was very polite, but a bit too much on the formal side for my taste. I'd love to see a more friendly vibe, such as what we experienced at The Clam.
The Verdict
Piora is a very nice addition to the West Village, and it's a great place for a date night if you want beautiful plating to match the delicious food, excellent service, and restrained portions, and don't mind a price tag to match. That said, service is pretty formal, and if Piora is going to take itself this seriously, then it really should provide the other perks of a more formal experience, such as making the Monkey Bread complimentary, providing a palate cleanser, offering a complimentary dessert when celebrating a birthday, as we were, and finishing with complimentary housemade mignardises. Otherwise, this level of formality is simply out of place and not in keeping with the current product.
Related Posts
Perbacco NYC Wine Bar and Restaurant Review
Khe-Yo NYC Restaurant Review: Laotian in Tribeca
Dovetail NYC Restaurant Review
Need Award Booking Help? Our fee is as low as $75 per ticket if you book your hotel through us.
If you enjoyed this, join 150,000+ readers: please follow TravelSort on Twitter or like us on Facebook to be alerted to new posts.
Become a TravelSort Client and Book Your Hotel with Virtuoso or Four Seasons Preferred VIP Amenities!