June 24,2007
The day after I returned from SF, I decided to make my first trek of the summer out to Red Hook. I had discovered the amazing food at the soccer fields last summer, and I'd been itching to return. The City Parks Department's plans to have the vendors re-bid for their permits have caused quite an uproar, as raised fees would most likely mean this summer tradition would be eliminated next year. The vendors work very hard to make all the food for the weekends, but they do not make a lot of money. With all the new attention, there are many more visitors to the soccer fields than last summer, which means much longer lines for food, but it's still worth the trek and the waiting.
Lines for both huarache vendors were easily 20-people long. Since these are made by hand, and take some time to cook, it's not a very quick-moving line, but if you've been lucky enough to sample one of these, you'll know why they are so popular!
All the other vendors were busy as well.
The making of huaraches - hand-made masa "tortillas" with a thin layer of beans, cooked on the griddle before being filled with the meat of your choice.
Pollo, carne asada, puerco adobado... the smoky smell of savory meats on the grill is the smell of summer!
This is my carne asada quesadilla huarache con todos (with everything), including a very spicy jalapeno-based bright green salsa. Note that this thing is BIGGER than the paper plate under it!
After my filling huarache and a watermelon aguas fresca, I needed a good long walk, so it was off to the waterfront. Along Erie Basin, there are a few old decrepit factory buildings.
The old Red Hook Stores were once used for grain storage (they were not actually retail stores). Ikea is being built in the background, another controversy out in this neighborhood.
The Beard Street Warehouses, built in 1869, were originally used to store the overflow of goods from the Port of New York, in lower Manhattan. Today, a variety of businesses, artists and organizations rent the spaces.
Back of Fairway Market, a huge specialty and wholesale food store with some really great selections. Too bad it's so far away from me.
From the waterfront along the warehouses, you can get a wonderful view of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan.
More warehouses, with Manhattan in the background.
The trolly tracks lie among these old paving stones, which were recycled from Baltimore's Pennsylvania Station.
Antique trolly cars behind Fairway Market.
