Peasant is for the birds

MK's face says it best—there's something rotten in Denmark, or in this case Peasant. Of the 8 dishes we ordered, only the polpi in purgatorio (octopus, at bottom) did us right. Absolutely everything's cooked in Peasant's woodfired oven, and whoever was on the line that night, just could not get a handle on the seasoning to save his life. Too bad, since it wasn't so much the level of done-ness that we had a problem with but rather the sad blandness—and in some cases tongue-curling saltiness—in most of what we tried. Well, that does it. Strike Peasant off the list.


The pasta itself was tasty, but the sea urchin on top? Not so much.


The pork broth was nice, but the hefty, dense gnocchi got a thumbs down from MK, who's the protein cook at a 3-star Italian resto in the city.


S'more salt in both the sea bass and the suckling pig woulda been handy, so say we all.


No complaints though with the octopus. Yes we're a tough crowd (made up of cooks, a food stylist and an ex-cook), but heck, Peasant's received some pretty big raves, so it has a big reputation to live up to.