Super Heroes

Forgive the pun of a title as I talk about Defonte's of Brooklyn, the Red Hook institution that, after over 85 years, has opened a Manhattan shop.

I first read about the opening of the shop in NY Mag, my first stop in reading about breaking local food news. And when my friend Tim wanted to meet me up here to grab a bite to eat, I ran through some options until I remembered that it was finally open and I wanted to check it out.

We met up and ventured in, around a line of people waiting for their lunchtime grub, looking up at the menu. He ordered the Hot Roast Beef (with the signature fried eggplant) and I the Sinatra Special (Steak pizzaiola with mozzarella). We would've taken a seat but were out of luck and carried them back to my place (fortunately, I heard through the grapevine that more seating space will open up soon).

I had also heard rumors that the gargantuan proportions to satisfy the longshoremen of Red Hook would be scaled down for the Manhattan crowd. So I can only imagine how big they are out in Brooklyn, because these sandwiches were beasts. Delicious beasts. Not a fan of eggplant, when I gave Tim's sandwich a taste, I was surprised at how amazing it was. And their Italian bread was superb, held up well against the jus and sauce covered behemoths.

I have always loved sandwiches (in my top 10) and I am glad to know that this place is so close.