Gourmet panini for the thrifty foodie

Crescent-shaped housemade loaves of bread form the foundation for Bistro Piuzza’s panini. 

Smoky from a stint in a wood-fired oven, the bread boasts a crisp crust and an airy, hollowed out center ideal for sandwiches.

“We bake our panini bread to order,” said Bistro Piuzza chef Hwang Dong-hui, gesturing to the oven in the open kitchen.

Everything centers on that domed oven, which gets powered up with gas before being fueled by logs of Korean oak that have been dried for over six months.

“All our dishes are baked in the oven,” said Hwang, 36, explaining that the entire concept of the newly-minted, four-month-old bistro is based on cooking with fire, hence the name, “piuzza,” which means “start a fire,” in Korean.

It is from that wood-fired hearth that hybrid Roman-Neopolitan pies emerge, blistered, hot and rectangular, and bread -- a cross between ciabatta and flatbread -- is baked till crackly on the outside.

There are piping hot skillets of lasagna and oven-baked penne, all heartwarming, hearth-centric fare and all under 30,000 won a pop.

Hwang explained how he and his team do not skimp on taste, but use good quality ingredients in “an affordable manner” to keep prices wallet-friendly.

Resulting eats include a reasonably-priced 8,000 won porchetta panino that is crafted from slow-roasted, fennel seed-spiced pork belly and smothered in apple chutney and basil-parsley-rucola pesto.

“The pork is roasted for three and a half hours,” Hwang said, deconstructing the components of a sandwich that manages to achieve a complexity of flavors that range from sweet to savory, from punchy to subtly fragrant, in one fell swoop. 

Other tasty outcomes include a particularly decadent mushroom pizza slathered in a caramelized, umami sauce concocted from dried, pulverized porcini mushrooms and fresh cream.

That potent sauce bolsters all the other layers of the pie, from the molten blend of provolone and cow’s milk mozzarella to the roasted button, shiitake and beech mushrooms to the fresh parsley on top.

Then there is dessert.

For 4,500 won, one can round off a hearty meal with a thick square of tiramisu, near-custardy with its alternating layers of mascarpone cheese-cream and espresso-Kahlua soaked ladyfingers.

Hwang seems to be dedicated to continually updating the menu and revealed a new addition, the traditional Tuscan soup, acquacotta, which, at Bistro Piuzza, is served as a stew-like jumble of vegetables and beans topped with poached egg and cheese.

All these eats are served in a small, bright 24-seat space located in the residential area of Seoul’s Nonhyeon-dong.

Bistro Piuzza

1F, 21-10 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

(02) 518-2110

Open 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily, closed Sundays

Panini cost 7,000 won to 12,000 won, pizza costs 23,000 won to 27,000 won, casserole-based dishes cost 12,000 won to 22,000 won, dessert costs 3,000 won to 5,000 won, coffee-based drinks cost 2,000 won to 6,000 won, wine by the bottle costs 30,000 won to 65,000 won, corkage costs 10,000 won per bottle

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)