The Good Fork

The Good Fork
391 Van Brunt St - Map
Between Coffrey Street and Van Dyke St
Red Hook, Brooklyn
(718) 643-6636
Contemporary American

On this one particular evening, three of my recently acquired chef friends (because we graduated culinary school - sorry, I had to plug that in!!) decided to get together and maintain our contact with one another. We figured - what better way to do that then to go out to dinner together and flex our new muscles of culinary knowledge. All week long we were savoring the day where we'd wreak havoc on a dining establishment with our overly critical palates! The (un)lucky winner was The Good Fork, a relatively new restaurant to open in the very up-and-coming Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn (within walking distance of the new Fairway).

We were only able to make a reservation for 9:15 and so we decided to occupy our time at the liquor store across the street, Le Nell's, of which I highly recommend visiting, for a brief tequila tasting and to purchase a bottle of wine. After being graciously educated on the refined varieties of tequila, we opted for a nice bottle of red and decided that we'd enjoy it along the pier as the sun was setting.

Upon entering the restaurant, you can't help notice that the decor of the entire place is reminiscent of being inside the galley of a boat, with tables alongside either wall, and a narrow walkway down the center toward the back where there is a bar in front of the VERY small kitchen. However, there is additional seating in their back dining room - where we were seated - which also leads outside to an outdoor seating area which was consequently open and heated through heat lamps.

We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the executive chef and wife of the owner, Ben, is actually an alumna of the Institute of Culinary Education - the rival school to our own alma mater, the French Culinary Institute - but we let bygones be bygones and decided to just enjoy our wonderful evening together.

We decided on 5 different starters: the cornmeal crusted osyters, the dumplings, the crab cake, the diver sea scallops, and their special for the evening chicken liver mousse paté crostini. We thoroughly enjoyed all the starters, although we felt that the diver sea scallops tasted to strongly of the bacon, and less so than scallops, but they were cooked to absolute perfection, or as the French say à point. They had a wonderfully brown crust on either side, and the center was perfectly plump and succulent and not rubbery in the least. The accompanying grilled asparagus dressed in a balsamic reduction was deliciously smoky and sweet, and really lovely pairing to the texture of the scallops and their bacony flavor.

The crab cake was also worthy of special note. The cakes were made from fresh crab and the flavor was both delicate and bold. The texture was perfect, while holding together in nice clumps, but brittle enough to fall apart from the larger portion of the cake. The freshness of the crab meat was clear from before the dish entered my mouth - with the distinct aroma of the sea and of crab tickling my nose and dancing a perfected ballet on my palate.

Not wanting to do injustice to the other starters, the cornmeal crusted oysters had a wonderful texture and an even more delicious flavor, wonderfully briny and the crumbly cornmeal brushing against my tongue. While I found the texture of the chicken liver mousse paté somewhat disappointing, with it being more runny than I would expect from a mousse paté, the flavor more than made up for it, and since I'm a huge fan of liver, I was not disappointed.

We were disappointed however, with the amount of time it took to serve the entrée once the starters were cleared from the table. We easily waited at least 20 minutes, but since we were all drinking something or other and enjoying each other's company we didn't mind as much as we would have had we not been drinking.

Finally our entrées arrived. I ordered the seared duck breast served with soba noodles, assorted vegetables, peanuts, and okonomi sauce. The breast was prepared to medium-rare, exactly how I like it. The skin was seared to perfect crispness which of course added torrents of flavor. The soba noodles were also particularly plump and al dente, topped with a few crushed peanuts. The okonomi sauce was both tart and savory at the same time, and went wonderfully well with the meaty duck. I was very pleased with this dish.

I also ordered a side of their shrimp scallion pancakes. These were really nicely prepared, cut into triangle wedges, and served with a teriyaki dipping sauce with toasted sesame seeds. The pancakes did not taste too strongly of scallion, and the baby shrimp added a fun texture and nice delicate flavor.

Overall, I did enjoy this eating establishment very much. I'm excited that they utilize seasonal ingredients, maintaining good quality and delicious food. With the exception of the timing of the dishes, everything else was very good, and overall a pleasant experience. Definitely worth checking out if you're not far from the neighborhood!