For southern home cooking and a good dose of genuine atmosphere, Fort Defiance in Red Hook is a good lunch or brunch tip.

Red Hook is one of those very New York-y neighborhoods that you can’t really reach by public transit (unless you count the IKEA bus, because this is where the furniture giant is as well). Maybe because of that, it’s got a very unique character, and many good restaurants (and wine shops).

I had a very good sandwich, and a classic New York drink — an egg cream (which, curiously, contains neither egg nor cream but is a mix of seltzer, milk and chocolate syrup).

Fort Defiance is on 365 Van Brunt Street (at the corner of Dikeman), in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Check it out!

Att äta mat från en food cart, dvs en ambulerande matvagn, är något som är väldigt trendigt här i New York. Det hålls till och med en årlig prisceremoni, The Vendy Awards, där årets bästa food cart utses. Det finns inget ställe att bättre uppleva denna matvagnskultur än i vid fotbollsplanerna i Red Hook där matcher spelas varje helg och hela latinosläkter kommer för att kolla. Allt i taco och burritoväg funkar, jag satsade på en huarache. Efter den var slut så blev det en majskolv med majonnäs, ost och paprikapulver och en horchata, vilket är en sorts risdrink som smakar som en tunn kanelmilkshake ungefär. Yum.

TRANSLATION:
Eating from food carts is something that’s very trendy here in New York. There is even a yearly awards ceremony, The Vendy Awards, where the best food cart of the year is crowned. There is nowhere better to experience this food cart culture than by the ball fields in Red Hook where games are played every weekend and entire latino families come out to watch. Everything in the way of tacos and burritos is a sure bet, I went for a huarache. After that was finished I also had a corn on the cob with mayo, cheese and paprika and a horchata, which is a kind or rice drink that tastes kind if like a thin cinnamon milkshake. Yum.

Är man i Red Hook bör man absolut stanna tills solnedgången. Väldigt vackert. Gamla magasinbyggnader, båtar och Frihetsgudinnan. Men usch vad jag inte tycker om människor som kastar skräp omkring sig. Lite respekt för naturen, tack!

TRANSLATION:
If you are in Red Hook you should definitely stay for the sunset. It’s gorgeous. Old warehouse buildings, boats and Lady Liberty in the background. I so don’t like people who throw trash everywhere they go though. Some respect for nature please!

Att storhandla kan vara jobbigt, men när mataffären ligger i ett fint gammalt kaffemagasin precis vid vattnet så är det ganska trivsamt. Efter alla varor pressats in i Minin så hann vi med en liten promenad längs vattenbrynet i Red Hook. Utsikten är helt otrolig, man ser ända bort till Verrazano-bron åt ena hållet och Frihetsgudinnan åt andra.

/// skjorta Tara Jarmon for Target, jeansshorts & halsband second hand, tygpåse Edun, glasögon Prada, träskor Swedish Hasbeens ///

TRANSLATION:
Grocery shopping can be quite the pain, but when the store is located in a historic coffee warehouse right by the water, it’s not bad at all. After all the groceries were stuffed into the Mini we had time for a stroll along the Red Hook waterfront. The view is amazing, you see all the way to the Verrazano bridge in one direction and the Statue of Liberty in another.

/// shirt Tara Jarmon for Target, denim shorts & necklace second hand, tote bag Edun, glasses Prada, clogs Swedish Hasbeens ///

TRANSLATION:
Yesterday I went to check out my friend Cathy‘s rooftop garden, planted on top of a beer brewery in Red Hook. Very impressive! They collect rainwater in bins to water the plants with, have a compost and a chicken coop with four hens. Everything is planted in reused containers — beer kegs, bath tubs etc. The chickens are, among other things, fed waste from the beer brewing process and the plants get nourishment from homemade compost and waste from a coffee brewery nearby. Nice!