red hook is away from other areas and sectioned off by the highway. i had the privledge of working in a woodshop on a pre-civil war era pier. it was beautiful.
as per vegan things there are no specific cafes or shops to the neighborhood but a short bike ride up 15th st or union ave to park slope will take you to places like that. hope your friend is a member of the park slope coop, its a great resource for those in the area and still functioning since 1976.
fairway opened a store last year, its a local supermarket chain with a large organic section and focus on nice house brands. lots of great cheap imported stuff too. in house sushi, deli, bakery; italian & other imports, coffee, beer, olives etc all get special attention.
lenell's is an amazing liquor store.
if you came this past summer you could have seen some truly authentic latin american street food, an feature which arose from the organized soccer games.
common ground is a community based agriculture organization, which has a storefront office on vanbrunt and farmspace near the ballfields. they might have some local food that kids grew.
if it comes to it the b61 is the bus that goes from rh to long island city, passing clinton hill and williamsburg on the way. otherwise its the f or g trains to the b77 bus. you shouldnt ever need them though, its about 25 minutes (much faster) to the bridges or williamsburg by bike.
dont think of red hook as a limiting factor though. in those 25 minutes to the city you'll pass thru several different neighborhoods, all of interest. from italian spoken in carroll gardens/cobble hill to the arabic community along atlantic ave to art galleries and parties in dumbo there is alot of stuff to do along the way.