Dining Reviews

Fette Sau!

You can certainly satisfy your appetite in millions of restaurants in New York City so why paddle over from your Manhattan accommodation to Williamsburg (Brooklyn)?

BECAUSE…you need to visit Williamsburg once anyway and it is even more fun at night as this neighbourhood is full of cool bars, cafés, restaurants, speakeasies and clubs - which are not frequented too much by tourists from Idaho or Germany. If you don’t want to pay big dollars on Four Seasons or Jean Georges and fancy a cheap chain diner then there is a real alternative: Fette Sau (means fat pig).

The closest subway station is probably Metropolitan/Lorimer on the L line. Go on Metropilitan opposite direction of subway, pass under the highway and find a driveway equipped with picnic tables on the left hand side, close to Havemeyer Street. You’ve arrived! This joint is a former garage and still kept its industrial style. Not big, but cozy.

They offer earthy, greasy but solid pork, beef and lamb through a self-service butcher’s counter which is paid by weight. The staff puts your meat directly on a sheet of paper on your tray. You can choose from a few sides that are not overwhelming but you have at least something to chew on besides your meat (potato salad and such). You are probably terrified when you see black pieces of meat coming from the smoke apparatus which is the heart of this place. You’ll find a changing variety of ribs, leg of lamb, belly of pork, steak and pastrami. Accompanied by one of the local brewed beers and a shot of digestif, bourbon or whiskey from the über-equipped bar and you will be happy (not you, veggies and vegans!) There is a handful of different home-made and creative sauces for your meal as well. The meat is greasy, tender and aromatic. Their staff is nice and folks around you may be students, young families from the neighbourhood and some southerners who swear on this unpretentious cuisine.

Those who do not flinch from eating at Fetta Sau earned an interesting experience away from the Times Square pack and can call themselves “hip”. Find your way back to by continuing further in direction of the East River with a final visit to a chic watering-hole in Wiliamsburg before boarding the L-train back to “civilized“ Manhattan.

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