Paul, A Worthy Honor

Trey Popp visits Paul, the Pine Street BYOB from sisters Effie Bouikidis-Schweich and Christina Jimenez. The restaurant is named for their late father, Paul Bouikidis. Popp finds that the cooking of chef Joshua Noh would make the daughters’ father proud.

There’s a lot to like about Noh’s cooking, in particular his willingness to impart some chili heat to dishes where you might not expect it. The biggest surprise was a perfectly cooked entrée of seared skate. The fish got a speckling of fennel seeds to go with the standard browned-butter-and-caper treatment, but the revelation was in the flanking potato hash. Noh touched it with just enough habanero “to open up the tastebuds,” as he told me later on the phone. It was like a master class in walking the line between assertion and nuance with capsaicin. Within a European-American menu, I can’t think of anyone who does it better.

And don’t forget there’s a three-course tasting for $20 on Tuesdays, $30 Wednesday through Sunday.

Father’s Day [City Paper]
Paul [Official Site]