Claud — Restaurant in New York

My wife and I were both really excited to try Claud, but it was honestly a bit disappointing given the hype and price. We enjoyed the meal, but to us, it was particularly mid. The execution was excellent, but nothing sparkled, and the overall flavors weren’t unique or inventive. Maybe we didn’t order correctly.

We had the country ham with sunchokes, gambas al ajillo, chicken liver agnolotti, and half chicken with foie drippings. The country ham with sunchokes was the best, and I liked this almost-classic pairing (think pork and potatoes) with some plays on texture and flavor. The gambas al ajillo was cooked splendidly, with beautiful texture on the shrimp and wonderful flavor in the oil. Still, the price is a bit jarring given the inexpensiveness of the dish in Spain or Portugal. The quantity was small too, so we kind of filled up on bread instead. The chicken liver agnolotti started great, with bursts of flavor mellowed out by some dark acidity, but the more I tasted, the more the metallic twang of gaminess crept in. I actually believe the portion was too large here. Finally, the chicken, again, was splendidly done, and I marveled at the technical execution of the jus. The sauce was glistening with gelatin, coating my tongue, and filled with umami. That said, there wasn’t anything beyond that to make it pop. I can’t help wondering if some small additions like a bit of spice sprinkled at the end or an interesting seasonal vegetable wouldn’t have made it better? Comparing to a chicken and salad we had in Munich for 1/2 the price, I ended up enjoying that dish more.

Now, onto the wines. I started with a glass of Riesling, and we followed with a white and a red for the meal. The selection was interesting. The bottle menu looked pretty reasonable and picked with care. Perhaps we should have picked one. The by-the-glass wines recommended to us we’re not paired well with the food. I believe the white we picked was great with the shrimp, but nothing else stood out. The red fell flat versus the agnolotti, and… I’m surprised that’s the case. Really we picked for that dish given it’s red-meat characteristics. The white also didn’t do well with the chicken, which, again, was kind of surprising. I think just a minerally white or a sparkling white would have done.

Overall, I just felt like given the wait time and the prices versus the food and wine pairings, I’d be better off elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed our dinner. It just felt mid, and we wouldn’t be itching to go back given the...

To Joshua and Chase, Unfortunately we had a terrible experience at Claud on Sunday March 9th. I never write reviews as I usually email the management or owners directly to let them know of the wonderful experiences we have anywhere we travel across the world. We were so excited to celebrate my birthday as we came up from the Philadelphia area as our restaurant is closed on Sunday and Mondays. We had the reservation weeks in advance and it was made by a very good friend in the industry as well. We were very excited about the buzz of the restaurant and also we spend a lot of time dining in the East & West Village and Soho.

Upon arrival we were seated at a bar table that looked right into the stairwell of the restaurant above. Our backs were to the entire restaurant and right next to the host stand and entrance. We asked if there were any other tables or seats anywhere as we had a reservation weeks in advance. They were extremely annoyed and told us that only unless someone cancels as the last minute or no-shows. It was 7:35 at the time.

We had a 7:15 reservation and we were running 7 minutes behind. We called at 7:05 as we were coming from the Eastside on Central Park South and spoke with someone to let them know we were running about 5-7minutes behind. They let us know that they MAY have a 9:15 booking behind us, but they would let us know when we walked in, as of 7:05 they did not have a 9:15 reservation. It was 7:22 when we arrived for our 7:15 reservation.

The front of house staff was short, exasperated and completely arrogant. We chose to leave as we were extremely uncomfortable and completely taken back. They had a cavalier attitude that leant towards they did not care if we left because someone else will take the seats. This is one of the biggest mistakes in our business. Treat everyone as you would want to be treated.

We decided to go over to one of our favorites ~ Lure Fishbar on Mercer. Lure was great and accommodating as always. Hospitality was completely lost at Claud and it was shame because so many of our guests are looking forward to hearing our thoughts on Claud. Unfortunately we will not be recommending Claud or Penny. I hope Joshua and Chase are able to read this review and work on hospitality with their staff at Claud and Penny. Thank you.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ―...

Came in with high expectations, which were partially met. Claud is definitely worth a visit, but I’m not sure it justifies or will be able to subsist on the perpetuation of ‘booked out’ culture. I could easily see myself becoming a regular if it was possible to stop by in a pinch, but I don’t think I (or anyone) will be making a point to return to it as a destination restaurant. I can’t resist to comment on the Michelin reference below, which is either obscenely generous or flat-out derailed.

That said, noteworthy was the service: prompt & cordial. The ambiance is not stuffy and the waitstaff reflects this democratic ethos. It may have been a kitchen delay problem, but we thought our courses were overly drawn out and we had to wait several minutes between dishes, which did not feel like were parsed out intentionally (specifically, the lukewarm mille feuille had a tough time following the warm and comforting agnolotti, which was overly sharp on the balsamic, in my opinion- but maybe the former had been waiting to be brought out to the table for a while…?).

The food: it’s good. It’s fun. It’s well executed. Have I had better shrimp in a hot cast iron with soft garlic? Perhaps Boqueria’s humble gambas can take this shrimp for a ride. Did I think Dame’s take on a savory pastry was better with the spiced crab? I sure did, despite enjoying the flaky mille feuille. The mackerel, the croquettes, yadda, yadda, they’re all fine. What Claud has is a graceful balance of elevated non-chalance in comfort food. The chocolate cake is divine, and the dishes, while forgettable, are all individually faultless. And on the drinks front, a thoughtfully curated wine list with several price point options and notable labels will surely hit the spot for diners.

I do worry the hype crowd may ruin this otherwise laid-back party- and the recent Resy coverage will not help this case. The Chase reserve and platinum Amex types ordered the $150 steak around us and photographed it, but their social media posts didn’t capture them stirring their warm whites (cringe) and boxing their leftover dessert (food waste from over ordering, double cringe). Please consider going back to Don Angie and let us support Claud as it evolves into a nice, dynamic neighborhood wine bar?

And Claud- perhaps consider holding more tables for delayed reservation (week or day-of)...