arvar Abdurashidov is the owner of Piyola, an Uzbek restaurant that opened last week at 663 Washington Road, site of the former Caspian Corner. Piyola is Abdurashidov’s second Uzbek restaurant. Last year he opened Chaykhana, in the West End space formerly occupied by Bella Monte Pizza, where Abdurashidov worked before buying the building in 2017. 

For more than half of his life, Abdurashidov, 32, has worked in the culinary business. He started as a teenager in Tashkent, the capital of Ubekistan, where he learned and worked alongside his mother Shakhnoza.

Piyola’s signature dishes include plov, the Uzbek version of rice pilaf. 

“The cooking method is different from other foods,” said Abdurashidov. “It’s fried, boiled and steamed, with lamb or beef, and onions and yellow carrots, which you cannot find in local stores. We special order from New York.” 

Piyola serves plov with a tomato salad and bread. Other popular items include kebabs (made with lamb, beef, chicken or vegetables,) samosas, dumplings, noodles made from scratch, and beshbarmak.

“The beshbarmak comes with square noodles, and is topped with a lamb shank that’s so tender, it falls off the bone.”

Judging from the reviews on Google, it’s been a pretty successful first week at Piyola.

One guest wrote: “The chef has truly mastered the art of combining traditional flavors with a unique twist, creating a memorable dining experience.”

Another added: “I don’t understand why Uzbeki food isn’t available all over the place. Even if you have never had it, it’ll taste like comfort food. The plov was some of the best I’ve had!”