Eating In Translation

Lainez stand

Lots of locals call on Lainez.

Rojas stand

One of the great things about the Red Hook Ball Fields used to be that you could walk around, see what was cooking, and order "one like that."

Sosa Fruits

The aguas frescas ("fresh waters") at the Sosa stand include horchata (or-Chot-uh, the leftmost of the four large containers), a name that describes a variety of vegetable beverages but that in New York typically denotes a sugared drink made from rice and scented with cinnamon.

Baked

In Red Hook, "among the forests, beaches and rolling hills," Baked bakes cakes, cookies, brownies, and pies "that pay homage to classic American desserts." Read the promotional copy on the back of the menu, and you might say that the corn is growing awfully tall; try the coffee cake and you'll take that back. Beneath a sweet, very cinnamony layer of crumbs is a body nearly as rich as pound cake, marked by a thin vein of chocolate. Boy, that's good.

The coffee cake ($2.50) is set out on Saturday only; don't count on finding it Sunday morning.

Baked
359 Van Brunt St. (Wolcott-Dikeman Sts.), Red Hook, Brooklyn (shown)
718-222-0345
Also at 279 Church St. (White-Franklin Sts.), Manhattan
212-775-0345
www.BakedNYC.com

Hope & Anchor

(This venue is closed.) I hardly expected a Vietnamese sandwich, and to be sure, the bun was too soft and the patty, too hefty. But a little cilantro — in the company of spicy mayo, julienned carrots, and a thin slice of ham — goes a long way when you're building a "banh mi burger" ($8). The fries were a little limp, but the diner atmosphere was lively.

Hope & Anchor
347 Van Brunt St. (at Wolcott St.), Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-237-0276
www.HopeAndAnchorDiner.com

Mark's Pizzeria Restaurant

The garlic knots are six for $1.50, but for more dough, more garlic, and a little melted cheese, the garlic sticks are hardly a splurge at 50 cents each.

Mark's Pizzeria Restaurant
326 Van Brunt St. (King-Pioneer Sts.), Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-624-0690

Ikea

Saturday afternoon, when I happened to be in Red Hook, was not the time to take the measure of the gravlax, meatballs, and lingonberries in the Ikea café, not without a half-hour wait. With a much shorter investment of time at the market downstairs, I picked up this Swedish elderflower drink (350 ml.; $1.29); it was still and clear, like apple juice with a little lemon flavor but no bite. If you're keen to try elderflowers, you might enjoy them more at Café Sabarsky.

Ikea
1 Beard St., Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-246-4532
http://info.Ikea-USA.com/Brooklyn/

Fishport

The New York Fishport was a seafood processing and distribution center, conceived as competition for the Fulton Fish Market and seafood packers in New Jersey. Despite a $25 million-$30 million investment by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as well as controversial subsidies, the Fishport flopped after about a year, but this sign near the Red Hook ball fields has been hanging on ever since.

Surviving signage for Fishport
Facing the southbound lane on Clinton St. between Creamer and Bay Sts., Red Hook, Brooklyn

Storefront chicken farm

I call it that, but in fact I have no idea whether these recently unboxed chicks are being raised as pets, or for food, or perhaps both.

Hernandez stall

(This stall is closed.) Mexican outpost for tacos, huaraches, and quesadillas like this one featuring chorizo ($5).

Hernandez stall
Red Hook Ball Fields
Near Clinton and Bay Sts., Red Hook, Brooklyn
Saturday and Sunday, May through October only