Vinegar Hill is only a mile from Manhattan, but it feels about a hundred years away from anywhere. It’s not just the early-19th century buildings along cobblestoned Hudson Avenue or the Federal-style Commandant’s mansion, perched on a hill above the Navy Yard, that transport you to another time. It’s the lack of cars and people, the and the blank, paint-chipped storefronts, that evoke a place that’s been sealed off; by housing projects and the BQE on one end, and by a vast humming Con Ed plant and pungent sewage treatment plant fumes on the other.

(corner of Hudson Ave. and Evans Street with Con Ed towers)

(doorway on Hudson Ave.)

(Looking East into the Navy Yard from Hudson Ave.)

Freeman’s chef Jean Adamson, willing to bet a few people will venture east of Dumbo, installed Vinegar Hill House in a former butcher’s shop about a year ago. I have to wonder what the locals must think of it. They might be dreading an onslaught of a certain breed of bearded, plaid-shirted hipster, harbingers of gentrification to come. But the place exists so quietly (at least on a Sunday evening) that it seems to fit its surroundings. No sign marks its entrance and most of the renovations have been kept indoors. The wide plank floors and thrift-shop decor evoke early, rustic Americana; the seasonal menu follows suit.

According to their website the menu changes each week, so quite possibly the dishes I tried will soon be out of rotation. I ordered the corn ravioli with jalapeno, bacon, and sage ($13). I never met a ravioli I didn’t like, but I appreciated the crunch of sweet corn in a creamy sauce, with salty bits of bacon. My snacking associate had the boneless braised short ribs with heirloom tomatoes and croutons ($21). The ribs were deliciously flavored and tender, while a bit of blue cheese added lots of tangy flavor to the sauce. A roasted corn salad with cabbage, lime and parmesean ($8) would’ve fared better with a bit less cheese. My cocktail of tequila and peychaud ($10), while potent, did not equal more than the sum of its parts and was my least favorite part of the meal. I had to ask the waiter to bring a basket of bread–shouldn’t this be de rigueur?–and proceeded to sop up every bit of delicious sauce from our entrees with it.

Other than this oversight, the service was friendly, and while I didn’t think the prices were a bargain, the food was hearty, inventive, and probably a few dollars cheaper than comparable fare in Manhattan. Mostly, I’d stop here for the pleasure of finding a mellow nook in a forgotten corner of the city. Walking home over the Brooklyn Bridge can’t hurt either, especially if you indulge in the chocolate Guinness cake.

More about Vinegar Hill on Forgotten-NY

Vinegar Hill House
72 Hudson Ave. between Front St. and Water St. Brooklyn
Mon.-Thurs. 6pm-11pm, Fri-Sat. 6pm-11:30pm. Brunch Sat.-Sun. 11-4.
(718) 522-1018