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Eat here

By Sarah Portlock
The Brooklyn Paper
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The Brooklyn Paper / Sarah Portlock
Oil and water: Vinegar Hill House owners Sam Buffa and Jean Adamson — who is also the head chef — celebrate “head to tail” cooking and local provisions at their Hudson Avenue eatery.

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It’s on an unlikely block — yet Vinegar Hill House has become a destination restaurant almost overnight.

Hudson Avenue is far to the east of far-hipper DUMBO, but co-owners Sam Buffa and chef Jean Adamson (pictured) think the retail space in front of their carriage house between Water and Front streets is perfect.

Water Street Restaurant

The space is comfy and warm, with a copper bar, hand-crafted tables and booths and a patio in the back. There are quiet nooks scattered about, too.

The restaurant seats only 41 people, so it’s frequently packed, even though Buffa and Adamson don’t have their liquor license yet.

Adamson’s menu changes daily, but always incorporates local, seasonal ingredients cooked in a giant wood-burning oven that the couple secured from California. House specialties include braised lamb shoulder with smokey chickpeas and roasted fennel; cast-iron chicken, which comes with caramelized shallots in a sherry pan sauce.

Vinegar Hill House [72 Hudson Ave., between Front and Water streets in Vinegar Hill, (718) 522-1018]. Closed Mondays For info, visit www.vinegarhillhouse.com.

©2009 Community Newspaper Group

←Bay Ridge: From ‘Green Church’ ruins, a school will rise
→Brooklyn Heights: Drunk drivers are no match for this cop

Reader Feedback

dand from bushwick says:
Overrated, overpriced (for what you actually get) fare. Yet more evidence that the flocks of lemmings who frequent "hip" overnight sensation restaurants are dilettantes whose tastebuds are overwhelmed by the chattering of the blog-class (an entire population of morons whose love for their own opinions outweighs any redeeming viewpoint or knowledge they may actually possess, but probably don't). Save your money, your patience and your appetite for something more interesting, like a dirty water dog.
Jan. 23, 2009, 4:38 pm
Amanda15 from Clinton Hill says:
Thank God! dand - I'm sick of every friend who until last year didn't even know what a shallot was, instantly celebrating every old old mediocre comfort food bistro masquerading as "artisanal", "new american" or what have you. Vinegar (butt)Hole.
Jan. 23, 2009, 4:55 pm
not Marty from Downtown says:
Hey, the place is good, gets folks to dead neighborhood, friendly service, decent food, not too expensive, don't know why dand and Amanda15 are so negative...
Jan. 26, 2009, 10:56 am

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