Jason marcus, chef/co-owner of Traif & self-proclaimed funny Jew,  was born in Pittsburgh, pa and raised in New Jersey. There he grew up gardening with mom, watching a lot of cooking shows, & mentally preparing himself for all the questions he’d receive in college about whether growing up in NJ was like in ‘the sopranos. ‘ After obtaining a degree in philosophy & leadership studies at the university of Richmond, he began cooking professionally at such notable restaurants: eleven Madison Park, le bernardin, Judson grill & manresa. Soon after he met his future wife and Traif co-owner Heather, while the chef of red pearl kitchen in San Diego. They moved back to New York and opened Traif in April, 2010. Yiddish for unkosher, Traif melds jason’s ironic love for pork and shellfish along with his philosophy of ‘cook what you love, not what your supposed to.’ Jason has been featured on such tv shows as “chopped” and “knife fight” and the restaurant has achieved such recognition as ‘bib gourmand’ in the Michelin guide. When he’s not cooking at the restaurant, you can probably find him eating ginger-scallion lobster in Chinatown’s ‘big Wong,’ taking his 4 yr old Sebastian to the Bronx zoo for the 63rd time, or trying to convince himself that he no longer cares about the ny jets.