Flatiron, Red Hook, NY

[adegiulio]

Our lovely town of Red Hook suffers from a severe lack of local culture. The handsome downtown area has a difficult time supporting anything worth going to. For dining, most people head down to Rhinebeck, or up to Hudson. Recently, a new restaurant called Flatiron opened, and judging from the menu, it has promise..

I heard good things about Flatiron from two different people whose opinions I respect. The pair who opened it have some strong restaurant and hospitality experience, so I was looking forward to a nice experience. The menu is mainly steakhouse a la carte fare, with a very nice selection of Meiller's beef. The interior space is fairly sparse, and still retains that new restaurant smell. I'm very excited by the bar, which has a wide selection of well thought out liquors. They seem to have a serious focus on cocktails, which is a welcome development in this area.

Our meal began with a few cocktails, an Aviation and a Bramble. Both were very good, though my Aviation was a bit sweet. The integration of jiggers will correct this easily. A server quickly brought us a charming amuse of cured salmon on a potato chip. Very tasty, and completely unexpected in Red Hook. Bread rolls are made in house, with an excellent texture and crisp crust. They could use a bit more flavor, but I'm still giving kudos to the baker.

We then moved on to appetizers, which consisted of a branzino chowder and raw pemaquid oysters. The chowder was terrific, with clams, potatoes, corn, and bacon, all in a tomato broth and topped with a small fillet of branzino. The oysters were also wonderful, briny and plump, though they could have been colder. The rock salt base should be substituted with crushed ice.

We then moved on to our main course, a Meiller's lamb burger, and a dry aged Ribeye. The burger was served on an english muffin (again, housemade), cooked perfectly and served with fries. The steak was a nice piece of beef, served with watercress and toast. It was an excellent example of a ribeye, but unfortunately it was quite overcooked. The medium I had hoped for had barely any pink at all. Luckily, the marbling helped save the day. I'm willing to overlook the mistake and give them the benefit of the doubt the first time out, hopefully they will get their systems down to a science. The sauteed mushrooms and fries I ordered on the side were fantastic.

Service was fine, if lacking polish. I could sense a real desire to excel, hopefully as they get into their rhythm it will smooth some rough edges. The restaurant has only been open a few weeks, so I'm not expecting much. Everyone was very warm and friendly, so I have no doubt that they will improve greatly...

Overall, it was a decent experience. I'm sure I will be back, and I'm hoping that as they evolve, the easy-to-correct problems will go away. We desperately need something like this in Red Hook, and from my perspective they are well on their way to providing another quality dining option for this area. I'm spending too much of my money at le Petit Bistro, Mercato, and Madalin's....

They are open Tuesday through Saturday, with brunch on Sunday. I'll post contact info when I go back and actually get it...

Edited August 29, 2008 by adegiulio (log)

[suzilightning]

anthony - you are killing me. a lamb burger?!! and i can eat it without johnnybird giving me grief?! sorry about the steak but did you say something to the owner/manager?

we will probably be up that way next year looking for properties and will also tell our friends, joyce and eddie about it.

you shouldn't be surprised about the dearth of places. remember johnnybird's family is just down the road and they had grandma's funeral luncheon catered by Subway - no s*&t.

[adegiulio]

I mentioned it to the waiter, but it wasn't bad enough to send back. I have a hard time sending something as high cost as a steak back, unless it's really bad. This was certainly edible, just not as enjoyable as it could have been....

One would think with the CIA a few towns south that we would have more restaurants. I guess we need a more vibrant local economy for that...

Honestly, I think this place has a chance to be quite good. The problems I noted are all easily corrected, and not totally uncommon for such a new establishment.

[Cachaca_Dave]

I took a road trip up to the Flatiron Steak House (from Red Hook NY) for their opening night and absolutely loved the food there. I was with my amiga LeNell from LeNell's, who designed their cocktail menu. I plan to go back as often as I can

Of course I shamelessly took photos of my food.....

The Roasted Oysters

The Roast Pork Appetizer

The Duck Burger

One of their steaks (I think it was the Flatiron)

Edited September 16, 2008 by Cachaca_Dave (log)