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Still Got It: Traif
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Apr 28, 2013
Modified Apr 28, 2013
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Apr 28, 2013
Modified Apr 28, 2013
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In this city, restaurants come and go faster than you can say "sustainable locavore burger." And even though there are great new additions to the culinary landscape popping up every week, you've gotta give kudos to anyone who can stick it out for over a year. With that in mind, we bring you Still Got It, our tribute to establishments that continue to serve mouthwatering meals and drinks long after the buzz has faded—or if the lingering hype is still justified.
There are three rules when it comes to eating at Williamsburg restaurant Traif: 1) Don't be hungry, 2) don't be on a diet and 3) don't be a vegetarian. As to the first, all the food is served small-plate style, and while the dishes are delicious, they're way better for sampling than stuffing yourself, and you'll be furious if you gulp down a serving before you really get to taste it. To the second, the food is oft-slathered in barbecue sauce, fried or sprinkled with bacon, and it will kill your Weight Watchers points. And to the third, the restaurant's name is a cheeky reference both to the decidedly unkosher shellfish and pork food it serves, and there are very few (if any) veggie options, so take a carnivore.
The dishes change up depending on the season, so you and your party get a chance to sample the whole gamut of delicacies, which run down the menu from lightest to heaviest. Seafood offerings of note include gentle scallops baked in brown butter with a bed of snap and English pea risotto, salt and pepper shrimp and tuna tartare atop tempura-fried eggplant; also worth a bite or two are slightly heavier meat dishes, like strawberry-cinnamon glazed baby-back pork ribs, tender barbecue braised pork sliders paired with salty sweet potato fries and a hearty moulard duck confit.
Price-wise, Traif, which opened in 2010, is what you make of it—the dishes farther down the list are more expensive, but there are plenty of small plates in the $7-$10 range if you're just looking to sample something light. They've also got an extensive wine list, plus specialty cocktails like the margarita-like Rude Little Pig, made with lapsang-infused tequila, orange liquor and pomegranate with a bacon rim ($10). In terms of ambiance, your best bet is to sit at the bar, so you can watch the top-notch chefs in action; otherwise, try and get a seat in the restaurant's backyard, which is less dark and cramped than the main dining room.
And whatever you do, save room for dessert. Traif serves a spectacular bacon doughnut paired with dulce de leche and coffee ice cream that rivals even the less, er, traif-ey vegan Cinnamon Snail doughnuts (There, I said it!), and if you leave the restaurant without eating one, there was probably no point in making a reservation at all—your waiter will even sigh at you with the weight of a thousand sadnesses, and drop the check off in a well-deserved huff.
Traif is located at 229 South 4th Street between Havemeyer and Roebling Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (347-844-9578, traifny.com).
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bacon doughnut
brooklyn
still got it
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Rebecca Fishbein
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