Pig & Khao’s Leah Cohen Journeys to Jersey City for Asian American Tavern

Despite news that Pig & Khao’s Leah Cohen was looking for another Lower East Side space, it’s Jersey City that will come first. Come early September, the former Top Chef contestant will cross the Hudson to open Piggyback Bar, an Asian-accented tavern on the waterfront.

Piggyback will have a pretty straightforward menu — a sample menu is in full below — of bar hits like beef tartare with Chinese mustard and wonton chips, mussels with Chinese sausage and dashi, and a mapo chili dog. Judging from Cohen’s penchant for big flavor in a chill space at Pig & Khao, Piggyback could potentially provide the same.

Being a bar and all, cocktails, beer, and wine will go alongside. The restaurant is in luxury building Harborside, which will harbor other restaurants to-be-announced.

Cohen is the second Top Chef alum to tackle Jersey City — Dale Talde’s Talde has been downtown since 2015. It’s an interesting move for Cohen, but one that makes sense considering Jersey City’s hot restaurant scene that still offers comparatively lower rents than nearby Manhattan.

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