Hell’s belles

Hellbender (Ridgewood)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

I took my 16-year-old son with me to a Sunday evening dinner at Hellbender. He had just come from a session at the batting cages and was dressed casually. I hoped that having a tall, athletic teenager as an accessory might make up for my own resolutely casual baseball mom look while going to a bar in the depths of Queens’ nightlife epicenter, Ridgewood. Yet while the music is just-right, there’s no dress code and no bouncer at Hellbender, which occupies a charming corner of Forest Avenue, and turns a year old next week.

Hellbender is the third venture from the partners behind Ridgewood’s gold dining standard Rolo’s and Greenpoint’s perpetually buzzy Radio Bakery. Chef-partner Yarra Herrera is an alum of Spago in Los Angeles and Momofuku Ko in New York.

From our table, I had a clear view of an attractive taxidermied jaguar mounted on one of the art-filled walls. I drank Topo Chico in an elegant tumbler, inside which were stacked three very attractive clear ice cubes, and the kid had a blender drink — strawberry, coconut, pineapple, and lime juice, served in a tall glass full of (also gorgeous) ice nuggets. This attention to the aesthetics of ice is a tip-off that the place originally opened as a bar (they called it a “nighttime café”), with just enough good food to keep hungry drinkers upright. The other tell is the smart-but-not-too-smart cocktail list, featuring a bitter mai tai, and a rum and amaro-laced carajillo that, in a better world, would shut down the espresso martini industrial complex, forever.

I let my son order and he went for a straight line of legible pleasure, starting with guacamole and freshly fried tortilla chips, followed by a taco course: crisp, sweet, and piquant lamb topped with salsa roja, and juicy roasted oyster mushrooms with black beans and a citrusy tahini. He devoured the al pastor ribs, poblano and cilantro-inflected rice, and a jammy bowl of refried black beans. He also swiped a hefty sample of my arctic char, served with crisp ribbons of jicama and fennel, dressed in a mildly smoky chile vinaigrette.

For dessert, we had the key lime jello, a molded visual throwback with propulsively right-now flavor, and a squiggle of chocolate custard with whipped cream and pleasingly salty candied Rice Krispies bits. After dinner, getting into an Uber with my kid and his baseball equipment, both of us well-fed and satisfied, I felt like a cool mom. –Laurie Woolever

→ Hellbender (Ridgewood) • 68-22 Forest Ave • Wed-Thur 5-10p, Fri 5-11p, Sat 11a-3p & 5-11p, Sun 11a-3p & 5-10p • Reserve.