A Shore Dinner in the Docklands: Red Hook Eating Beyond the Ball Fields

August 26, 2009 6:52 pm

A Shore Dinner in the Docklands: Red Hook Eating Beyond the Ball Fields

There's more to Red Hook than just the street vendors. Sure, if you find yourself in this coastal Brooklyn neighborhood on the weekend, you should head straight for the ball fields. But the neighborhood had a number of advantages that should make it attractive even on a weekday.

First, it's gorgeous. Despite its place on an island (mostly), New York's status as a manufacturing center made most areas with a water view seem less desirable, since the scenery wasn't that of yachts and swimmers but shipping containers and industrial waste. Consequently, coastal areas tend to be desolate. But Red Hook has undergone a transformation in the past decade that saw its now mostly silent docks and cranes reclaimed for pedestrian use, and now its cobblestone streets and piers have a quiet, picturesque appeal.

Speaking of: Red Hook was considered so outside the bounds of habitable Brooklyn that no train lines run there. This might be frustrating if you're trying to get there, but once you arrive, it means that even heralded culinary destinations are relatively easy to get into. In New York, not having to fight the crowds makes any dining experience more pleasurable.

If you're looking for cheap eats, head for the café at Fairway. For those Brooklynites with cars, Fairway is a great shopping destination, with its big parking lot, cheap prices on great seafood and produce, and fantastic meat counter. But even if you're not looking to cook, Fairway's prepared food and deli section is worth the trip. The reason? The seating area, which puts you right on the water, next to two decommissioned streetcars and with a spectacular view of the harbor (including the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Bridge). Come at sunset and get a shore dinner for cheap.

If you are looking to take something home, head for Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies. Located on a pier beside a gardening center (and right by where the cast of MTV's Real World: Brooklyn stayed, if you're into that sort of thing), they proudly state that their hours are whatever they feel like, and that if you want more specific information, you should check their Twitter account. When you enter, you'll find the room so big and empty that horror-movie scenarios start to run through your head, especially when it takes a while for anyone to show up at the counter, but once they do, you'll end up with an excellent example of this tart, uh, tart.

A vibrant restaurant scene in Red Hook seems to have been stifled of late, as widely heralded new entry 360 closed. But The Good Fork remains, and it's where me and my girlfriend decided to check out on a recent weekday evening. Though full when we arrived, including the small bar area, they took my cell number so we could walk down Van Brundt Street to the water and spend some time with a gorgeous, burnt-orange sunset. When they called us back, we were seated inside a small but pleasantly-appointed room with something of a nautical vibe. We placed our order, received our cocktails (a light gin-and-cucumber concoction for her, a warm whiskey-and-mint deal for me), and waited for our meal.

And waited, and waited, unfortunately; there seemed to be something of a backup in the kitchen, and it took about 45 minutes for our appetizers to arrive, though the bread basket got refilled. Once they did, however, they were worth the wait. We split an order of the flavorful pork and chive dumplings, and the special: squash blossoms stuffed with manchego and herbs and fried in a tempura batter. These in particular were wonderful, somehow losing the particular flavor of their component parts in favor of a unified morsel of perfect silkiness, the kind of thing that haunts your dreams.

After another lengthy wait, we were faced with our entrees. These were somewhat less successful. The meat portions of each—duck for her, pork shoulder for me—were undeniably delicious, rich and stuffed full with flavor. But what surrounded them, a large part of the appeal for each of us, was unexciting. But then, maybe that's unfair. Reading food coverage when I was younger, it seemed crazy to me that critics could declare themselves bored with trends I hadn't even been aware of. But having done a lot of eating in Brooklyn of late, I can honestly say that I am bored with farmhouse. The duck was surrounded by red quinoa, leeks, walnuts, and prunes in a port wine sauce, while the pork was set with farro, cherries, asparagus, peas, greens, and citrus gremolata, but it could have been almost anything. The taste was less of carefully cultivated produce than just general freshness, or greenness, missing out on the sweet or fragrant notes that the list of ingredients might imply. It certainly wasn't bad, but it didn't move us, either. Such seems to be the endpoint of Brooklyn "farmhouse" cuisine, a trend that may have run its course.

Carping about vegetables aside, let this not dissuade you from either trying (carefully!) The Good Fork, or Red Hook in general, which offers abundant delights beyond its much-ballyhooed vendors.

Fairway Café
480-500 Van Brundt Street, near Reed Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718.694.6868

Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies
204 Van Dyke Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
888.450.5463

The Good Fork
391 Van Brundt Street
(between Coffey Street and Van Dyke Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11231
718.643.6636