Flatiron Steak House Opens in Red Hook
"Comfort food" is one of those terms that is so overused that it begins to lose all meaning. But the "Truffle Mac & Cheese" ($7) at the two-month-old Flatiron Steak House in Red Hook is the quintessence of comfort. Served as an a la carte side dish that feeds two (though you'll fight for every last bit in the gratin dish), this intensely sublime Mac & Cheese has a crusty top made from Panko bread crumbs and a tangy sauce made from Fontina and Pecorino cheeses and "high fat content cream," according to chef Craig Stafford, who owns the restaurant with his wife, Jessica Stingo. The couple are ex-Brooklynites who used to work together at the same restaurant in New York City's Flatiron district, and decided to move to the country last year. They have created a riff on the Manhattan steak house without the urban attitude, and they've designed a menu that is friendly and affordable. Their signature steak, the Flatiron ("a tender cut from the shoulder," according to Stafford) comes in 5 ounce or 8 ounces portions ($12/$18) as do the Flank Steak ($11/$16) and the filet mignon ($16/$22). "To be honest, we got the idea from my mother who never finishes her entree in a restaurant," says Stingo. "We wanted people to be able to try appetizers and desserts without feeling they were over ordering." The steaks are served with a choice of seven piquant sauces—chimichuri, bearnaise, habanero, percorino truffle fondue, poivre, house-made ketchup and house-made steak sauce—and a small arugula-and-watercress salad. Although it is billed as a steak house, Flatiron seems like a place where my vegetarian friends would find comfort by starting with a buffalo mozzarella and fig salad ($11) and then having a side of collards ($5) along with the transcendent truffle mac & cheese. Flatiron Steak House Dinner: Tuesday - Thursday 5:30 -9:30 PM, Friday- Saturday 'till 10:30 PM Sunday Brunch: noon - 3.
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