Val's Opens in Red Hook, NYC: A Diner and Bar in the Former Pitt's Space

Val's, a diner and bar, has opened at 347 Van Brunt Street, at the corner of Wolcott Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The corner room was once home to Fort Defiance and then Pitt's.

Three friends are behind it: Victoria Viscusi, chef Allie Gassaway and Laine Pelka. Together they have about 50 years in hospitality, much of it in Brooklyn and Red Hook, and the name is an acronym built from their first names. Gassaway lives on Van Brunt and says the neighborhood is tight-knit and that they simply want to give people what they want. She also says Red Hook has wanted a diner like this for years.

The kitchen keeps things simple. Breakfast is served all day: blueberry pancakes, buttermilk waffles, and a plate of two eggs with bacon, hash browns and Texas toast for $13. Bar snacks include buffalo wings, three kinds of fries (skinny, waffle and tater tot), and a hot spinach artichoke dip at $10. Heavier options include the Bad Girl Salad with kale, radicchio and gorgonzola, a cheeseburger, a $14 tuna melt on thick Texas toast, and meatloaf. The most expensive item is "Dinner," a $32 plate of steak, caesar salad and fries. Gassaway plans to widen the menu later this year and add weekly blue plate specials.

Drinks are priced gently. The Infatuation notes that almost every cocktail is under $15, including a $13 martini with a gordal olive and a Cherry Coke spiked with vanilla vodka. A beer-and-shot combo is $7, and the Wait List Special, fries with a small martini for $12, is pitched at people stuck waiting for a table at Red Hook Tavern. Pre-made draft cocktails start at $12.

The layout will be familiar to Pitt's regulars: a long bar and booths along a wood-paneled wall in the front, an eating counter by the window, and a darker back room with a smaller bar. You seat yourself and order at the bar. Brooklyn Magazine reported Thursday-to-Sunday hours from noon at opening, and The Infatuation says Val's stays open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Prices come from press reports.

(Details are drawn from points that agree across reports by Brooklyn Magazine, The Infatuation.)