Penny
The new seafood wine bar from the Claud team.
The new restaurant from foodie favorite Claud, a wine bar with exceptional food (get the chicken liver agnolotti and the chocolate cake, and thank me later), is located just above the original. Penny is two things: a wine bar and a raw bar, and it is literally just a bar; there are no tables. This makes for an enjoyably intimate dining experience; we got to watch the chefs shuck oysters and artfully arrange ice boxes (Penny’s answer to seafood towers).
It’s practically illegal to go to a raw bar spot and not order at least half a dozen oysters. Penny’s were very fresh. The mignonette had tiny bits of celery in it which added a vegetal flavor that enhanced the acidity of the mignonette and added a crunchy textural contrast with the oyster.
We also ordered the octopus and potato salad — a Portuguese-inflected combination I’ve had before and liked, but not quite like this. Seared octopus with a heavy dash of paprika lay on a bed of perfectly balanced potato salad composed of well-cooked potatoes (haven’t we all had our stepgrandmother’s friend’s undercooked potato salad at some barbecue?) and just the right amount of mayonnaise.
Of course we tried the tuna carpaccio, which was extremely fresh and sliced so thinly you could see through it. Served with green olives, slivers of white onion, a generous splash of olive oil, and the right amount of salt, it left nothing more to be desired. I’m adding this to my list of places I can get my raw tuna fix.
Soft, pillowy brioche with well-salted butter would have been the perfect start to the meal if it hadn’t arrived after everything else we ordered. But it’s well worth the $8.
The meal ended on a perfect note with the chocolate mousse. More of a milk chocolate than a dark chocolate, which is the way to my heart, it was incredibly creamy, drizzled with vanilla oil, and studded with candied hazelnuts. I’m a vanilla lover, so that added points, and the candied hazelnut provided the perfect nutty and sugary crunch. This was very similar to a Daniel Boulud chocolate hazelnut cremeux we had had and loved just days before, and we both agreed: this was even better.
All in all, the seafood was exceptionally fresh, and the ambiance was casual but elevated in a way that means you never have to worry that you’re over- or underdressed. This spot would work just as well for pre-dinner drinks and a bite as it did for a full dinner. There were no misses in terms of food, and it all was nicely washed down by a crisp, minerally Sicilian white.
There were a few service missteps; there was the brioche; the “still” water they served us seemed to be sparkling water that had gone flat; and the server gave us a bit of a surprise when she came up behind us silently. But to be fair, they’ve barely been open for four months.
Another note: we were in and out in forty-five minutes. After all, they didn’t have to do much cooking (ha ha, get it, because it’s a raw bar). This could be a great spot to hit when one is on a time crunch, say, before a show at the Public.
If you find yourself near Astor Place and want a chic place to wind down after work with some oysters and a reasonably priced glass of wine, this is your spot.
TL;DR: WHAT WE ATE
Loved: tuna carpaccio, octopus and potato salad, chocolate mousse
Liked: oysters, brioche and butter
Could have skipped: nothing