Fort Defiance

365 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY

7.5

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Neighborhood
Brooklyn
Red Hook

Cuisine
American

347-453-6672

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By Andrew Steinthal
December 7, 2011

An hour and thirty seven minutes after leaving my East Village apartment (a commute that included a subway, a bus and a friend’s car), I finally made it to Red Hook. Although it’s not much farther than Carroll Gardens, it’s an infinitely more difficult commute, especially when the F train isn’t running local stops. I’m glad I made it, because now I know what actually goes on here. You know how sometimes you have a preconceived notion of what a certain place looks or feels like before you’ve actually been there? Well, I always thought Red Hook was a crazy harborside amusement park and market. Beers! Boats! Fish! Art! That’s not the case. There’s one block with a couple restaurants, a dope bakery and a lobster pound. No rides. No water balloon horse racing. No fish market. There’s a Fairway market (which is amazing), and there’s Fort Defiance.

We’d heard a lot about Fort Defiance, and had a feeling going in this was a place that we would be very down with. Although they’re known for their libations, this restaurant doesn’t feel like one of those super-cool, pretentious cocktail dens that we all know too well. It has the promise of the perfect neighborhood spot that, if we lived in this hood, we’d frequent all the time. We thoroughly enjoyed both the food and drinks here, but it’s the friendly, warm service that stuck with us the most. It seemed as if everyone working here thoroughly enjoys their job, which means good vibes for your Chronic Brunch. And that brunch is the main reason you should be heading for Fort Defiance. They do small plates and a couple entrees at dinner too, but a brunch full of Day Drinking is where it’s at.

Food Rundown:

Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
Whoa. Is this for real? This bad boy should not be on the breakfast menu, it’ll take you out (in a good way). The biscuit is a must order.

Cheddar Biscuit Egg Sandwich
Yup, just as good as it sounds. A breakfast sandwich jammed with ham, jalapeno jam, and a fried egg. Does not suck, that’s for damn sure.

Skirt Steak & Eggs
If you want meat in the morning, this is the move. It’s a huge portion of skirt steak along with eggs whatever way you like. Our one complaint is that the meat might be a little thick for breakfast.

Dutch Pancake
This is one of the main attractions at Fort Defiance and, honestly, I’m not that crazy about it. The combo of creme fraiche, apples, and maple syrup is nice, but for something that sounded so good, it missed the mark. The pasty was flaky and a bit dry, and overall the dish wasn’t sweet enough to make us crave that next bite. Next time, I’m skipping this.

Cold Fried Chicken
If you can handle a hefty brunch, this is where it’s at. The cold fried chicken comes bacon, oysters and Salsa Valentina. It’s protein heavy, but really damn good and quite fulfilling.

Omelet Of The Day
It’s always rotating but never a bad idea. Do it. Mine had spinach, onions and peppers. Not a bad way to start your weekend.

Cocktails
The Bloody Mary is very well done. It’s huge and you have the option of gin, vodka, tequila or aquavit. Another good brunch companion is their Bourbon Milk Punch, it’s delicious. Honestly, every cocktail we’ve tried is good and their beer and wine list is stellar. Other favorites include the King Bee Comb Vodka, a ridiculous vodka cocktail infused with Darjeeling tea, with lemon and prosecco. Their Sazerac is legit and their Barbados Buck Dark & Stormy is top notch as well.