Billy Durney, the Brooklyn restaurateur and pitmaster, has been talking for several years about the fried chicken that he planned to bring to Red Hook. At first, there was no reason to doubt him.

That the man is comfortable with long time horizons was clear to anyone who watched how patiently he studied the science of indirect heat at his first establishment in the neighborhood, Hometown Bar-B-Que. After Hurricane Sandy flooded streets and knocked out power in the area shortly before the scheduled opening in 2012, he gave away smoked briskets, ribs and shoulders to local residents until electricity was restored almost three weeks later, honing his technique all the while.

The years rolled by without a drumstick in sight. But as recently as March, it was still possible to take Mr. Durney at his word when he talked about the star attraction of his nearly completed fried-chicken emporium, to be called Red Hook Tavern.

The doors were finally unlocked in July, revealing a row of tables under electrified gas lamps and a row of stools in front of a white-oak bar that looks as if it was built to last at least until Van Brunt Street sinks into the sea. Wearing wallpaper and wainscoting and pressed tin, Red Hook Tavern does a straight-faced impression of a whiskey-simmered New York corner bar of a certain age.