Quick Bites: Foie Gras At Traif

[Pigging  by Wilfrid:  April 23, 2012]

I know some people will never reconcile themselves to a restaurant called Traif, no matter how nice the owners, no matter that it's not even a new idea (there's been a Traif bike shop in the neighborhood for years).

But crowds of people obviously don't care, and regularly pack the little dining room to bursting.  I walked by a couple of times on a recent evening, and finally spotted a seat at around 10.30pm.

I really wanted to try a foie gras dish about which I'd heard nothing but good things.  I snagged a small table in the middle line of tables (there's the bar, there's tables opposite, then there's more tables in the middle) - and it was packed, noisy and dark.

Service nevertheless aspires to correctness and even a modicum of elegance in the glasses and tableware.  The menu currently boasts some 23 savory entries; you can judge the size by the price ($7 to $17).  Given the crowds, I was surprised nothing was sold out.

I kicked off with some grilled asparagus topped with slices of burrata.  Then, as a sort of bridge to the foie, some slices of toast dotted with bacon and a pot of chicken liver spread.

The foie dish is the most expensive thing on the menu, and is really good.  A tranche of liver appropriate to a main course, neatly seared, served beneath a fried egg and over al dente fingerlings with ham chips.  The neat touch: a gently spiced maple sauce which pulls it all together.  I don't care how soon I eat this again.

Note: Urban Spoon got to photograph it with some light, but it honestly looks nothing like this when you're sitting in the restaurant.