For those paying attention, it seems as though there's been a disproportionate number of restaurants dishing up Southern or Southern-inspired food among the recently opened in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Restaurants opening themselves up to judgment by transplants in the city who know authentic Southern food or that pass easily among New Yorkers who know no better.
Van Horn Sandwich Shop is one of these newer places, a small, casual restaurant on Court Street in Brooklyn that might be easy to miss, but shouldn't be missed. And one of my dining companions, a native of North Carolina (which, incidentally, is also where one of the owners is from) deemed it quite worthy. Although it's mostly a sandwich shop, Van Horn offers a few other sides, soups and salads that, based on our experience, were just as good as the main focus.
The
Brunswick stew was a tomato-based dish with pulled pork, bacon, chicken, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, lima beans and potato. It was hearty and delicious.
The hushpuppies — cornmeal, jalapenos, scallions and buttermilk —were crispy, well-seasonsed rounds that weren't too dense or dry.
The buttermilk-fried chicken with zesty vinaigrette slaw on a sesame seed bun was great. The large chunk of chicken was moist and tasty. The only downside that could be said of it was that the bun was slightly greasy.
The pulled pork, smoked for 12 hours and served North Carolina style, was also a good sandwich.
Unfortunately Van Horn was out of the mac and cheese when we were there. And they hadn't yet developed any dessert options. But we were kindly told that Momofuku's dessert chef would be coming soon to help them with those offerings. That should only make the place even more of a destination.
These pics looks great. I wonder sometimes if great casual sandwich shops like this are also good values. Maybe you could include some price info in your future postings, kitchenette?
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