Food & Drink

6 hot twists on pot pie

By
Social Links for Joanna Prisco
Published Jan. 15, 2015, 9:43 p.m. ET
Warm up with these hot — and haute — takes on the comfort food classic from Lamb Terracotta (left), Bubby's (top right) and Fung Tu (bottom right). Gabi Porter

The season’s chill demands wholesome grub. Luckily for New Yorkers, what’s old is new again, as chefs around the city inject flaky crocks of pot pie with gastronomic flair far beyond your basic chicken-peas-and-carrots filling.

Here are six new variations to warm your bones.

Fancy bird!

Chicken Pot Pie, $36 at NoMad Bar, 10 W. 28th St.; 347-472-5660

Zandy Mangold
Chef Daniel Humm’s pie is haute — it’s the pub version of the $82 roast chicken dish served at the NoMad restaurant. Morel mushrooms and sherry wine up the ante on the filling, and the pie is served with black truffle cream and a foie gras skewer to break through the crust. It’s “very satisfying,” Humm says.

Middle Eastern promise!

Lamb Terracotta, $29 at Bustan, 487 Amsterdam Ave.; 212-595-5050

Chef Efi Nahon serves a delicious Mediterranean version at his Upper West Side eatery. A flaky bread dome conceals a piping hot stew of spiced Colorado ground lamb kebab, charred onion, tomato, tahini and pistachio. Peel back the bread and enjoy!

Luxe lobster!

Lobster Pot Pie, $175 per person as part of the Monday night dinner and dancing prix-fixe at the Rainbow Room, 1221 Sixth Ave.; 212-632-5100

Bill Milne
Think pot pie can’t be decadent? Think again. Chef Jonathan Wright’s pie is filled with rich lobster sauce, root vegetables and fresh lobster, and served with black truffle Chantilly cream. “We wanted to offer familiar, rustic comfort food but more luxurious than what you’d typically make at home,” says Wright.

Veggie delight!

Vegetable Curry Pot Pie, $19 at Fung Tu, 22 Orchard St.; 212-219-8785

Gabi Porter
Chef Jonathan Wu’s spicy, vegetarian version is inspired by the Chinese curry puffs called gali-jiao. “It’s a snack that I fell in love with when I lived next door to Fay Da Bakery on Centre Street,” says Wu. For his riff, he simmers a coconut-milk curry stew with “a bunch of cold weather vegetables: Yukon gold potatoes, celery root, cauliflower, onions and Chinese broccoli.”

Extra comforting!

Fried Chicken Pot Pie, $8 at Hill Country Chicken, 1123 Broadway; 212-257-6446

Gabi Porter
“I gave it a little spin,” says Hill Country Hospitality’s corporate chef Charles Grund Jr. of his pie, which combines two beloved comfort foods into one. The restaurant’s famous fried chicken serves as the base of a filling that includes the usual veggies along with spicy Ro-Tel tomatoes, which, Grund says, add “a kick at the end.”

Stick to your ribs!

Short Rib Pot Pie, $28 at Bubby’s, 71 Gansevoort St.; 212-206-6200

Gabi Porter
“It’s fricking cold out! People need this,” proclaims Bubby’s chef/owner Ron Silver of his new pie, which features short ribs that are first smoked, then braised in Pabst Blue Ribbon until they’re “almost falling apart.” The beef and veggies are topped with Danish blue cheese and a half-butter, half-lard crust for the final bake. “It’s the perfect balance of salty, savory, sweet deliciousness,” says Silver.