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(Photo: Jon Selvey) |
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- The Clam
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420 Hudson St., at Leroy St.; 212-242-7420
The cluster of still-in-shell littlenecks is flecked with leeks and bacon nuggets, perhaps the first sign this chowder is no standard rendition of the New England canon. Relying more on line-cook instinct than tradition, Mike Price engineered his house chowder for maximum bivalve impact, starting with a base broth of fennel, thyme, Yukon Gold scraps, and surf clams and building from there. Cream, too, naturally. Rough-chopped “bigs,” shorthand for the hard-shell clams that bridge the gap between topnecks and cherrystones, add even more brine and meat.