If you happen to end up in Red Hook—whether by bus, bike, or long sketchy walk across the BQE from Carroll Gardens—Fort Defiance welcomes you with open arms, your journey rewarded with delicious cocktails and hearty food. Café by day, bar by night, Fort Defiance serves smart but simple fare befitting its artisanal-minded neighbors. More
As befits an ingredient so texturally challenging and confounding in taste, tripe is generally regarded with particular revulsion from its dissenters. But once you get past the idea of it, tripe becomes quite delicious. Almost always braised, its fortifying qualities also make it perfect late-night food for the winter months. More
Somewhere in between the lavish praise and sneering cynicism lies the truth (or at least my dispassionate version of it): Sons of Essex has at least a few respectable bar dishes. More
New Leaf Restaurant and Bar's greatest asset is the synergy between its food and locale. Located in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, one of the highest points in Manhattan and the home of the Metropolitan Museum's medieval art branch, the restaurant is unique not only because of its beautiful setting in a cottage-like building in the middle of the park, but because it is actually a charitable and environmentally responsible operation. More
