Fatty Crab has been a huge critical success for Zak Pelaccio, and you can hardly squeeze into the place, but for some of his fans (like us), nothing on that turbo-charged Malaysian menu lives up to the stuff he did at 5 Ninth and Chickenbone Café. So we are psyched that Pelaccio and his chief lieutenant, Corwin Kave, have resurrected some of the chef’s greatest hits for a special bar menu being featured on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. And each one comes with a drink pairing (it being a bar menu, after all).
Aside from the regular bar items, Kave is serving Pelaccio’s pork-belly fries with a sambal aïoli and “the bone”: a shot of Hudson Valley rye with Tabasco, raw sugar, and lime. A single spoon with an oyster, charred ginger, dried bonito flakes, and coconut vinaigrette (plus a little bit of pork belly, of course, this being Pelaccio) comes with a glass of Prosecco with a splash of yuzu. And spicy flat noodles tossed with fish sauce and ground pork are served most appropriately, Kave says, with a PBR. “I loved a lot of the stuff I used to do with Zak at 5 Ninth,” he says. “The drinks are just natural to go with them at the bar.” Pelaccio, for his part, couldn’t be happier about the idea. “It’s fun, and it tastes great. Do you need another reason?” No. Gluttony will do any day.
