01.12.07
The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Defonte’s
As much as I like to pretend to act like one, I am no working class hero. True, I’ve done a number of blue collar jobs. But that hardly makes me a member of the proletariat. My mom was a teacher and is now a counselor. My dad was a professor, then a high level government official, and is now a lobbyist. And they paid for my undergraduate degree at NYU. No matter how long I drive a cab, I’ll never really be working class.
My dad, on the other hand, really did start out honest-to-goodness blue collar. His father ran a convenience store on the North Side of Chicago. My dad sold tube socks on the corner because he had to. I sold pickles on the sidewalk because it was my idea of a dream job. He drove a bus because it was a steady job. I drove a bread truck to get free, fresh rye bread. He sold lemonade at Wrigley Field and Comisky Park because that was how to make money at his age in Chicago. I sold hot dogs at the ball park in Coney Island because it was fun.
Although my dad successfully clawed his way out of the working class (he never imagined his second born would find it enthralling to claw back into it), the man can still enjoy blue collar cuisine. And I do believe that there is such a thing. I’ve never seen any other former Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Controls devour a Chicago hot dog or an Italian beef sandwich or a deep dish pie with as much pleasure and comfort as my dad does. It’s like watching an old teamster at a truck stop on Route 66. He is in his element. Even though he became a Republican and moved to Potomac, Maryland, he never forgot his working class roots.
And even though I could never pass myself off as anything close to a real blue collar guy, I’ve read that taste buds are genetic. And I’ve always loved to eat the working man’s lunch.
That’s probably a big part of the reason I fell in love with Defonte’s Sandwich Shop in Red Hook the moment I took my first bite of their signature sandwich. Homemade roast beef, fried eggplant, and fresh mozzarella on a big, long hero is exactly what my dad would have loved had he grown up in Brooklyn rather than Chicago. The sandwich is messy and gigantic, meant to satisfy your hunger quickly and your taste buds thoroughly without wasting time on presentation.
Defonte’s, at the edge of Red Hook near the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, has been serving the working class denizens of Red Hook since the days when the neighborhood was packed with longshoremen. When I went, there was a truck driver double parked outside chowing down on his roast beef sandwich before hitting the BQE. There were a couple contruction workers inside waiting in their hard hats for their orders to come up. And I know there was at least one cab driver in there. But that sandwich was so good I wouldn’t have been surprised to see an Under Secretary walk through the door.
379 Columbia Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
As published in my weekly outer borough column in Gothamist.Com
And I give daily eating tours at FamousFatDave.Com
benatlastexit said,
January 12, 2007 at 9:10 am
Another Brooklyn secret so callously given away…
Beware the hipster hordes!
Yvo said,
January 12, 2007 at 6:40 pm
But I want the crabs in the first picture.
Melissa said,
January 12, 2007 at 11:47 pm
Adorable and wonderful as always.
Ilikelimabeans said,
January 15, 2007 at 1:58 am
Viva Mr. F! I love him. And Mrs. F.
Polecat said,
January 15, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Excellent photos, Dave. I must have that sandwich. Have been meaning to hit this joint for years. The only Brooklyn Roast Beef hero I’ve managed thus far is the one at John’s Deli, a stone’s throw away from Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst. I
keep hearing, though, that Defonte’s is the best. So, it beckons. Great post.
P.
Administrator said,
January 16, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Polecat,
And I have been meaning to go to John’s Deli for years. The irony is thick. Anyway, definitely try Brennan and Carr and Roll N’ Roaster for Brookyn Roast Beefs on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of style (both super tasty though).
~Dave
Amy H said,
January 17, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Sounds delicious! I have to say though, Portillo’s in Chicago cannot be beat for Italian Beef! And the soft shell crabs above that look even more delicious!
KAT said,
January 17, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I love reading your journal. It is one of my favorites even though I live in Califorina. That sandwich looks so good. Have a great day Dave.
Adam B. said,
January 20, 2007 at 10:10 am
I hope the truck driver didn’t get roast beef grease on his blue collar.
Tina York said,
May 31, 2007 at 10:17 am
Thank you so much for the pictures of Defonte’s Sandwich Shop. I used to go there all the time as a kid (70’s and 80’s). My parents owned a marine engineering shop on Commerce Street, just down the block.
I am a 38-year old Mom who now lives in Houston, Texas, but I will always have fond memories of Defonte’s. Me and my brother used to salivate as we walked to Defonte’s for lunch everyday during summers. We’d walk in and the guys would call us “Beauty and the Beast”. They were the best…best food, lots of fun, and real cute! There used to be a guy in there that looked like a body-builder. I had a real crush on him!
The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie » The Yellow Ones Don’t Stop said,
October 3, 2007 at 2:48 am
[...] But there came a time in my life not too long ago when I realized I didn’t want to drive a yellow cab forever. An advanced degree might lift me out of that working class that I pushed my way into after college. And so, a month ago, more than 11 years after I first applied, I started school at Columbia. [...]