Where Chef Yara of Hellbender Eats in NYC
Her favorite sandwich spot, the place she gets one of everything & what to order at Hellbender
Yara Herrera has hit her stride. The Mexican-American chef has certainly made waves in Ridgewood and beyond after opening Hellbender about 18 months ago.
Her restaurant started out as a ‘night time cafe’, but it transitioned to full service after people started visiting for the drinks but staying for the food.
Recently, Hellbender made The NY Times Top 100 Restaurants List and Chef Yara cooked her Dream Dinner with the one and only Martha Stewart, as well as did a one night only pop up with Una Pizza Napoletana, which is regarded as some of the best pizza in the country.
Off-the-Line Hit List
Yara shared recs from her neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens plus some other faves around NYC.
Decades
6-90 Woodward Ave, Ridgewood
A neighborhood pizza joint and bar from alums of Ops and Roberta’s. Yara goes here for pizza of course, but recommends you don’t skip the chopped salad.
Corima
3 Allen St, Chinatown
Corima was one of my favorite new restaurants of 2024, so I can totally see why Yara is a fan of this one. Chef Fidel teams up with his wife, Sofia, who runs the FOH, to serve innovative Mexican cuisine. You can sit at the chef’s counter to enjoy the full tasting experience kitchen side, sit at the front bar area to choose your own adventure with their a-la-carte menu or sit in the main restaurant for a choice of either — both of which change with the seasons.
The duck enmoladas with black garlic mole and cotija foam is one of our favorites and you can’t find a much better tortilla than their’s, it does help that it comes with a recado negro butter.
Salty Lunch Lady’s Little Luncheonette
5-65 Woodward Ave, Ridgewood
Salty Lunch Lady’s Little Luncheonette also debuted on the NY Times 100 Best Restaurants list this year! Known for incredibly well balanced sandwiches and other cafe treats, they’ve taken Ridgewood by storm with some epic looking creations, both sweet and savory.
Lise and Vito
126A Nassau Ave, Greenpoint
Lise and Vito is a funky wine bar in Greenpoint. They boast a 200+ wine bottle list and host a ton of pop ups. Yara goes there especially for the affordable natty wine selection and draft cocktails.
Rolo’s
8-53 Onderdonk Ave, Ridgewood
Rolo’s was certainly a given, being that it’s just around the corner from Hellbender and that the owners are her business partners as well. You could order hit after hit at Rolo’s, from the unique lasagna verde to their in-house dry aged steaks. Yara says she likes to go for the tahini chickpeas, polenta bread and pasta which are also house-made.
Chef Francis Maling co-signed this spot in our video with him — shouting out the polenta bread as well.
101 Wilson Bar
101 Wilson Ave, Bushwick
A graffiti covered Bushwick watering hole that is on her hit list for when she fancies a ‘divey time.’ An Estrella Jalisco and a shot of mezcal is the order if you really wanna follow Yara’s lead.
Claud
90 E 10th St, East Village
Yara said Claud is where she goes when she wants to treat herself and orders one of everything on the menu! It’s a downtown European inspired bistro with plenty of wine and seasonal offerings. Sounds good to me!
Claud was also recommended to us in our interview with the legendary Chef Charlie Palmer.
Chef’s Choice & My Hellbender Recs
When you make it out to Hellbender, Yara says you should definitely try her fried Oaxacan cheese, shrimp tacos and green rice.
If you ask me, I’d say you also can’t miss the pork ribs al pastor. Fourteen hours cured, four hours confit and fried to order is how she creates a perfect outer later, while keeping the inside of the ribs juicy and fatty in texture. Pickled onions and pineapple habanero salsa complete the dish.
The jello of the day is a fun way to finish. Do not be mistaken, this is not the jello you remember from your childhood; the one I tried was intensely fruity and almost sorbet-like.
Yara’s Favorite NYC Spots
📍Decades for pizza and the chopped salad @decades.pizza
📍Rolo’s for the tahini chickpeas, polenta bread and pasta @rolosnyc
📍Sandwiches at @saltylunchlady
📍Innovative Mexican cooking at @corima.nyc
📍Natty wine at @liseandvito
📍A divey time at @101wilsonbar
📍One of everything at @claud_nyc