Comfort food of the week is chicken potpie at P.J. Clarke’s in Woodbury

Chicken potpie is the ultimate comfort food, delivering stew and pie in the very same bite — even bad chicken potpie is moderately comforting. But P.J. Clarke’s in Woodbury gets every element right.

First, the chefs use a simple American-style pastry for the crust — not puff pastry, a French affectation that has no business on a true potpie. And whereas lesser potpie makers thicken the stew with so much flour it becomes a glutinous paste, at P.J. Clarke’s the filling is pleasantly runny, with a discernible hit of fresh thyme. There’s plenty of chicken (tender shards of dark meat, not tough cubes of breast) along with peas, carrots, potatoes and mushrooms.

I don’t understand the physics of chicken potpie, but it seems to stay palate-searingly hot for an unusually long time. Perfect for the cold weather.

Chicken potpie is $19.16 at P.J. Clarke’s, 8289 Jericho Tpke., Woodbury, 516-367-7400.