My favorite new restaurant

The Good Fork in Red Hook, Brooklyn is as good as I've been hoping it would be. I've been trying to get reservations for every special occasion that I've had for the past year, and I always call too late and find that they are booked. One of my main reasons for wanting to go is the restaurant's support and use of produce from Added Value, http://www.added-value.org/, a nonprofit that fosters youth development and sustainable agriculture in Brooklyn. They train at-risk youth how to grow and market produce, and they run a pretty neat little Farmer's Market on the weekends.

Now I know for certain why I've been unable to get reservations: the care and attention that the chef and her partner have put into the place. From the minute we walked in, I loved the place. The decor was perfect: just the right amount of tiny sparkling Christmas lights, the old fashioned paintings, the brick walls, the solid wood tables, the lighting.... We were greeted by one of the owners, very friendly...drinks were awesome and served up right away.

We ordered three appetizers and a main course because we couldn't decide what to get. Pork and chive dumplings, grilled asparagus with a poached egg on a bed of greens, and the crab cake with endive and radish sprouts on a bed of chipotle aioli to start. All of it was prepared perfectly and I savored each bite. For the main, D and I shared roasted organic chicken with potato-parsnip puree and a roasted leek. It was actually just the right amount of food, not too expensive, and utterly delicious. The bill wasn't outrageous ($76 for all of that, two mixed drinks, and a glass of reisling), and the servers were perfect. The only complaint we had was that the place was a tad noisy. It might have been the rowdiness of the guests around us, or maybe it was the acoustics, but it hardly detracted from a perfect evening out.

I can't say enough about this place. In addition to everything else, its right across the street from LeNell's Wine & Likker (http://www.lenells.com/); down the street from Fairway; close to another awesome Red Hook restaurant called Hope & Anchor (http://www.hopeandanchordiner.com/index.html); and serves Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pie--made right down the street (http://www.stevesauthentic.com/) I'm glad my blog isn't heavily trafficked, because I almost don't want more people to know about this place.