229 South 4th Street
(347) 844-9578
www.traifny.com
By Mary Yeung
Photo by Bess Adler
Traif owner Jason Marcus puts finishing touches atop a dish of spicy big-eye tuna tartare, and tempura eggplant.
Oy! What’s a nice Jewish boy doing in a place called Traif? Cooking (gasp!) pork and shellfish, of course. To be sure, Jason Marcus is not the first Jewish guy to serve pork and lobster, but he is the first to call attention to it by naming his restaurant Traif, a Yiddish word for forbidden food. And as expected, it got him a lot of attention, and a pork belly worth of free publicity (not that there is anything wrong with that.). Yup, Traif is a word that just keeps on giving. So far, the attention has been mostly positive, thanks to his excellent cooking skills.
A globe-trotting chef, Jason has honed his techniques in celebrated restaurants such as Le Bernadin in Manhattan, and Man Ray in California before partnering with his lady friend Heather Heuser to open Traif. According to Heather, the name came about when Jason served his friends a delicious chicken some time back and everybody wanted to know why it tasted so good. Jason told them the bird was flavored with bacon, and the joke was that everything tastes better with bacon. An innocent jovial moment morphed into a daring promotional vehicle. Though when you read his blog on the Traif website you also get the feeling that Jason strongly believes in his food and wants to open a dialog about religious dietary laws. If you want to read a spirited debate, log on to Traif.com. Being Chinese, I don’t get the concept of forbidden food, it’s like “What do you mean you can’t eat pork?!” So this is the perfect restaurant for me.
Traif is on the Southside, not exactly the tourist district, but an easy walk from Bedford Ave. The place is lovely; it has a polished warm wood interior, and a beautiful back garden complete with a grapevine canopy, lush greens, and sprays of dainty, colorful flowers. The menu is well edited and very eclectic, combining exotic ingredients, while deconstructing classic dishes. Jewish, American, Southeast Asian, French, Italian—all these flavors and cooking techniques are evident here. The dishes are priced from $6 to $18, but most are tapas-sized portions, so be ready to order two or three dishes per person for dinner. I really liked everything I had; the tuna tartare, partnered with eggplant tempura and a side of kecap manis, was spicy, slippery, and slightly crunchy. The sea scallops, rested on a bed of snap pea risotto, was creamy, gentle and delicately sweet. I also enjoyed the bacon wrapped, blue cheese stuffed dates—an intense pairing of sweetness and saltiness; it’s like having a wild party in your mouth. There was also pulled duck confit with foie gras and fingerling potatoes, and a crispy pork belly with braised artichokes and Muscat grapes. The most expensive dish is the flat iron steak with king crab béarnaise and potato latkes ($18). Kids might go for the rigatoni with leek and Italian sausage ragu. For brunch, there is the All-American chicken and biscuit, with sausage, and pickled watermelon salad ($10) and a bacon, egg, and cheese slider with sweet potato fries. On a budget? Go for the braised BBQ short rib sliders with smoked Gouda, and a mess of sweet potato fries served with a savory smoky aloi ($8). Just remember to ask them to add another slider for an extra three bucks, and it should be enough food for a casual dinner. Add a beer and your bill can still come to under $20. But the best way to eat here is to bring lots of friends so you can sample everything on the menu. Traif is open until 2 am. Heather says, “We want it to be a (late night) gathering place for local chefs, so they can get some oysters and foie gras after their shifts.”
