A New Look for Defonte's

The owners of Defonte's, the oldest ongoing business in Red Hook and arguably the finest sandwich shop in New York, have slapped a new coat of paint on the old building at the forlorn corner of Columbia and Luquer Streets. (I always want to call Defonte's non-neighborhood Five Points because of the odd confluence of five streets that lead to the store.) The address has gone from the odd pale green is boasted for many years (and which always reminded me of the interior of a public bathroom)—see below—to a bold dark green, with bright red for the blocked-out windows, and white for the lintels.

I guess it's an improvement. Anyway, it's going to look fantastic at Christmastime.

Lost City Asks "Who Goes to DeFonte's?"

I know one person who goes to DeFonte's in Red Hook. Me. Have for years. Unlike most of the subject of the "Who Goes There?" column on Eater, Defonte's was already a place I was quite familiar with. To be truthful, I find their work somewhat unreliable. Sometimes I walk away thinking "That sandwich should have been better than that." Other times, I am very happy. On this occasion, I had a meatball sandwich and was very satisfied.

Recently, my wife made friends with someone who lives down the block from DeFonte's. She can back excited one day, saying "I found this great sandwich place in Red Hook you have to go to. It's called DeFonte's. I looked at her like she had two heads.

Who Goes There? DeFonte's

Seen from the corner of Commerce and Van Brunt Streets, DeFonte's looks like an apparition; an isolated four-story, hospital-green mirage at the center of a crumbling, five-way intersection, roped in by telephone lines. The Ghost of Red Hook Past. And it is. The sandwich place is the oldest surviving eatery in the neighborhood by a very long shot. It was founded in 1922 by the DeFonte family, who still run it, and own the building it's in, and it is one of the few links to the area's industrial, longshoremen, shipping past.

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"No Matter Where You Travel Someone's Heard of Defonte's"

Yesterday I was at Defonte's, the Red Hook sandwich shop and one of the last vestiges of the old waterfront culture, hooking up with an egg sandwich (which they do, and aren't nearly as expensive as their meat-laden creations). The wall opposite the counter is filled will framed pictures, some of celebrities, a few family shots from the old days depicting the DeFonte sons as young men. In one corner, I noticed a picture of an old Defonte's ad. Jeez, I thought, did Defonte's ever advertise? It's always been a word-of-mouth place for as long as I can remember.

The ad is pretty hilarious. I place it sometime in the early '70s due to the phrase "I can believe he'll eat the whole thing!"—a take-off on the classic 1970s Alka-Seltzer line "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." But the best line is the last one: "No Matter Where You Travel Someone's Heard of Defonte's." C'mon guys. Even Queens?

DeFonte Not DeFinished

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind regarding Italian-American businesses—particularly those in the outer boroughs—is that Old World traditions die hard. Just as much of Italy shuts down and goes on vacation in August, so do many of Gotham's Italian restaurants, delis, shops and businesses take a hiatus during the warmer months. Over the years, I've gotten used to the fact that, from late July to late August, I'll have to do without the services of some of my favorite Carroll Gardens stores and eateries.

A couple weeks back, there were some reports that DeFonte's Sandwich Shop in Red Hook had closed its doors. The way things are going in this town vis a vis Mom & Pop places notwithstanding, I was highly suspicious of this news. Sure enough, I stopped by for a hero today and DeFonte's was open and doing its usual brisk trade. They were, as I suspected, on holiday. In fact, a guy behind the counter was joking with a customer, "I go on vacation and they say `He's closed for good!'"