Red Hook may have New York City’s most coveted burger, great new pizza, a delicious 20-seat restaurant, and a winery on the water, but it doesn’t have an everyday diner. And the community needs one. That’s all about to change. While out to dinner at Third Time last week and chatting with neighbors at the bar, I learned that Val’s, a bar and diner, will open in the old Pitt’s space on Van Brunt Street.
The community diner and co-working space takes its name from the first letters of each of its owners’ first names—Victoria Viscusi, Allie Gassaway, and Laine Pelka), and is also a nod to Valentino Pier.
According to a story back in June from the Red Hook Star Revue, the Val’s team is leaning into “sexy Pizza Hut” vibes, with “classic diner fare, including eggs, waffles, tuna melts, burgers, blue plate specials, a kids menu, and, of course, a pizza night once a week.”
While the front room will serve as the dining room, the back room will be a spot for diners and remote workers during the day and will transform into a dynamic space in the evenings, where customers can watch games on the TVs or host birthday parties, community meetings, fundraisers, or other events.
“I keep saying this is the restaurant that Red Hook built because we’re getting so much support from so many members of this community,” Gassaway told the Red Hook Star Revue. The artist Beau Stanton, who was behind the mural on the old Fort Defiance, will paint a new mural for Val’s. “They’re helping us with the buildout, with our neon sign, with our photography, and our graphics.”
Love the Red Hook community!
Val’s is located at 347 Van Brunt Street; follow along on Instagram for opening date.
Happy to see the old Fort Defiance space — or better yet, the old Hope & Anchor space! — become something truly universal. Given the owners' intentions, working by day, fun by night, it sounds more like the much-missed, perfectly casual H&A (2002-2018).
That former place had the best turkey burger anywhere (yes, I'm one of only a dozen people in the world who cares about that menu item). But beyond that, it had the most wonderfully insane weekly karaoke events.
Can't wait to check out Val's, even though, as a born Brooklynite, I really can't appreciate Pizza Hut in any form, sexy or otherwise. But I won't hold that sentiment against them (yet! ;) )