Legible pleasure
Hellbender, Tribeca gallery crawl, Hudson Valley listings, Hotel Lilien, Guild House, best UES cocktail bars, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Hell’s belles
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.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Gallery Crawl
Walker Street, Tribeca
LEAH KE YI ZHENG: The artist’s (primarily) paint-based practice grapples with the division between her early education in traditional Chinese landscape painting and the avant-garde history of the Western art world that she learned as an adult. The resulting silk paintings, made in slightly asymmetrical shapes that require viewers pay closer attention to detail, are striking meditations on the universe’s big questions.
→ Visit: Mendes Wood DM (Tribeca, above) • solo show • 47 Walker St • Mon-Fri 11a-7p, Sat 10a-5p & by appointment, through March 1.
THE LORD WILL SPIT OUT THE LUKEWARM: It’s not often that a sparsely hung painting show produces an essence of punk, but Bortolami’s current group exhibition does just that. The included artists share practices that compile a plethora of information — most of it not visually obvious — processing it through paint. Named in homage to the motto of 1970s Düsseldorf punk bar the Ratinger Hof, the exhibition acknowledges the four artists as a younger generation in dialogue with the past.
→ Visit: Bortolami (Tribeca) • group exhibition featuring work by Violet Dennison, Kelsey Isaacs, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Olivia van Kuiken • 39 Walker St, Fl 2 • Tue-Sat 10a-6p & by appt, through March 1.
THE LOVING CUP: Even if you haven’t yet stepped into Jacqueline Sullivan’s quintessential downtown gallery space, you’ve likely viewed its photogenic interiors somewhere on the internet. Jacqueline’s latest exhibition, The Loving Cup, honors Valentine’s Day in its exploration of the ceremonious vessel. Participating artists and designers each made their own version of a loving cup, filling the gallery space and our eyes with numerous delights.
→ Visit: Jacqueline Sullivan (Tribeca) • group exhibition featuring work by A History of Frogs, Cara Bauermeister, Ficus Interfaith, Jordan McDonald, Skye Chamberlain, Sophie Stone, and a historical selection of design • 54 Walker St, 4th Fl • Wed-Sat 12-6p & by appt, through April 12. –Maria Vogel
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Red Hook art hub Pioneer Works gets $12M upgrade • Cheryl Hazan Gallery to leave Tribeca for Bucks County • Bureau V Architecture making a mark on New York’s art spaces • 7 first-time exhibitors on Frieze 2025 slate • About that Fashion Week runway bong.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Saffron
Christo and Jeanne-Claude • The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City • The Shed (Hudson Yards) • Sat @ 10a et al • suggested, $10 per
Swan Lake • NYC Ballet • Koch Theater (Lincoln Center) • Sun @ 3p • orchestra, $579 per
Illinois v Duke • Madison Square Garden (Midtown South) • Sat @ 8p • section 106, $1449 per
GETAWAYS • On the Market
Three for-sale properties Upstate in the Hudson Valley.
→ 182 Hill Top Rd (Pine Plains) • 5BR/3.1BA, 3264 SF house • Ask: $2.95M • farmhouse on 16+ acres with guest house and outdoor kitchen • Days on market: 28 • Annual taxes: $31,265 • Agent: Kate Wood, Patricia A. Hinkein Realty.
→ 98 Verbank Rd (Millbrook) • 5BR/3.1BA, 4696 SF house • Ask: $2.25M • updated antique dairy farm with original features, new pool, and large sun room • Days on market: 5 • Annual taxes: $10,738 • Agent: Oliver Brown, Houlihan Lawrence.
→ 1689 Broadway (West Park, above) • 6BR/4.1BA, 3264 SF house • Ask: $4.45M • expansive views of the Hudson from secluded 1820s Greek Revival with modern amenities • Days on market: 152 • Annual taxes: $44,618 • Agents: Norah Burden and Owen Davidson, Brown Harris Stevens.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: On Upper East Side, the rise of the faux-op • New renderings revealed for New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island • 1 Park Row progresses in FiDi • Inside the new Waldorf-Astoria Residences • How the Upper West Side came to be steeped in stoops.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
Checking in
ELIZABETH NARINS • head of content and communications, Hotel Lilien • author, More Than Mom
Neighborhood you live in: Cobble Hill
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
As the voice of Hotel Lilien, an 18-room Catskills boutique hotel and cocktail lounge helmed by a group of friends that include my husband David Harmatz, my main priority every Friday is shoring up promotions for weekend programming. We have an amazing DJ on Saturday nights, and we bring an emerging musician up to the mountaintop for a live concert every Sunday night. It's my job to make sure everyone knows about it.
When I'm not Upstate, I wrap that up from home, and my next stop is a local coffee shop or restaurant to work with David. Our favorite spots have friendly staff that make us feel welcome à la Hotel Lilien; when you're in hospitality, you can't really turn off high expectations. We also look for some sort of design vibe or great branding to keep us feeling inspired. When it's cold and we want to stay close, we go to One Girl Cookies, Talea, or Anais. On nicer days, it's Saturn Road or Poppy's, although our New Year's resolution is to branch out a bit. We recently went to Quarters in Tribeca, In Common With's loft concept store and wine bar, which serves coffee by day.
Once properly caffeinated, I'll wrap up any writing deadlines and figure out my next More Than Mom post, which I'll chip away at throughout the weekend. It's always a treat to write in my own voice and for parents in a similar season. Then it's back to Hotel Lilien stuff — responding to press inquiries and influencer collab requests, refining our wedding marketing materials as we expand into an adjacent event space, and managing partnerships. In the past year we worked with Books Are Magic to curate our library's contemporary collection; brought Pendleton in to sponsor our Sunday night programming; and recruited a handful of maternity and baby brands including Hatch, 7AM Enfant, Halo, and Aden + Anais for our babymoon gifting program.
By 235p, I'm back on full-court-press mom duty. It's a constant struggle to straddle part-time work and parenting, but we're making it work.
Any restaurant plans?
We're excited to check out Il Gigante in Ridgewood, which was opened last month by a parent of our son's classmate. We know firsthand how much work goes into creating your own place, and how great it feels when friends show up to see what you've built and support you.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Last weekend, I saw Alicia Keys' Hell's Kitchen, and it was next-level enjoyable. Our kids aren't quite old enough to sit through performances, so we spend a lot of time bopping around play spaces and parks. Next on our list is Genius Gems and the new Space Club in Fort Greene, although we love taking the Dumbo ferry to their Greenpoint location since it gives us an excuse to browse mid-century and early American furniture at Good Behavior. (Our apartment remains a work in progress, and often serves as a pseudo storage space for vintage furniture, antique rugs, and art going up to the hotel.)
Any weekend getaways?
David and I also love checking out similarly-sized boutique hotels in different markets, although these trips always feel like work, too, since we literally take notes on everything from room booklets to menu design, signage, and amenities. Last year we loved our stay at Guild House in Philadelphia. We also took our kids on a Berkshires road trip to Tourists and Little Cat Lodge, which is still our son's favorite spot thanks to the bottomless babka and berries they serve at breakfast. On the West Coast, where we spend lots of time visiting family, we've enjoyed Cuyama Buckhorn, which is helmed by the family of our friend and designer Kiana Toosi, White Water Cambria, and Sea Ranch.
What was your last great vacation?
In the fall I was invited on a press trip to Miraval Austin. I finished Miranda July's All Fours and half of Taffy Brodesser-Akner's Long Island Compromise, had all kinds of epiphanies while holding on for my life on the high-ropes course, and came back craving hemp hearts, so I'd call that a success.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
David spends too much time on LiveAuctioneers gathering gems for the hotel, especially now that we are building out four more guest rooms with the help of my sister-in-law at Field Theory Design. We recently purchased what we thought was one 1970s Martial Raysse exhibition lithograph, but later realized it was a lot of 17. We'll hang one at the hotel, and will be adding the rest to Hotel Lilien's Come Back Collection, a promotion that invites return guests to pick a vintage piece of art or an object to take home with them.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Reopening update for Waldorf-Astoria hotel: would you believe September? • Behold, the Bahamas first moonshine company • The best villas in Mykonos.
BARS • The Nines
Cocktail bars, Upper East Side
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of NYC's best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.
Jeremy’s, small, sophisticated cocktails w/ twists on classics and Austrian wines, from 3rd-generation Schaller family