Bar Belly — Restaurant in New York

The Leadbelly is the new too-cool place to be from The Fat Radish team. What's that bustling across the street? The Fat Radish! Though I haven't been to the latter, I hear there's food there--that wasn't quite the case at dear Leadbelly. But, first, The Scene. Imagine: rec room circa 1960s—distressed stucco, found wood, replete with upright piano, turntable and succulents. Most notable decoration? The crowd—all lush lipped, plaid clad, and felt-fedora lidded. Most questionable? Driftwood as toilet paper holder—splinters? (My party openly pondered if the herbs in our snapper tartare had been clipped from the terrariums in the bathroom.) The Food: What I hope is simply the “early” menu was not much of one—4 items, plus oysters. The beet tartan was good, but beets+chevre does not a rocket scientist make. The snapper tartare was reminiscent of tabbouleh—dry and overly herbaceous, I passed after a bite—and the dukkha (apparently a mixture of herbs, nuts and spices) was, well, a mixture of herbs, nuts and spices. I felt it would go far better with yogurt and honey in the a.m. with a cup o' joe than naan in the p.m. with a negroni, but I’m particular. The kale salad was so artfully deconstructed, it was more train wreck; an explosion of pine nuts! Nothing was bad, it's just that nothing was very good. It was too...healthy--for this type of establishment. Where are the devils on horseback and the duck-fat fries? The drinks were great, inventive but classic, though suffered a bit of an identity crisis. To wit: a Dirty Lemonade with jalapeno lacked heat, while a Tequila Rose, with no mention of spice in the recipe, was openly garnished with, yes, a jalapeno. The Spicy Pineapple was to a tee. No complaints from my crowd. So yes, Drinks! And, yes, Oysters! We tried three. The West Coast Kumamotos were tops--impish, craggy and briny--but equal love was professed for their Eastern brethren. The service was, for lack of a better word, slow. Very slow. Someone wondered whether the waitstaff was pulling doubles at the Radish across the street. But servers were amiable and responsive when around. And cute. They've got to be cute. I actually would go back to Leadbelly, with the gorgeous crowd, great drinks, and the oysters. I'd even recommend it. But I'd...

The Leadbelly is an Oyster Bar with emphasis on the Bar; the drink menu dwarfs the meager food offering with a roster of creative drinks that, for the most part, seem to take jalapeño as a base and build from there.

There were four varieties of Oyster to try, three from the east coast and one from the west, and the ones I sampled were all both different and delicious. The most enjoyable of the appetizers was the Warm Dukkha. While the provided Naan was practically non-existent, the Dukkha was good enough alone to keep going at with a fork, well after the bread was gone.

The taste of jalapeño was unevenly present in many of the drinks, even between two of the same, ranging from mild to overwhelming, so I got the feeling the recipes were still in flux. Nevertheless, they were all tasty, especially the Spicy Pineapple, and, my favorite, "A Stuffing", which undercuts apple and lemon juices with a strong blend of sage.

The restaurant itself had the look of a barn attached to a crumbling stucco wall, which is more apparently more pleasant than it sounds, and keeps up the eclectic combination with faux-Edison lighting and a yard-sale collection of glasses and plates. The wall piano held promise, but was unused while I was there. This was probably just as well because it was already difficult to hear the people sitting next to me. The service was fine, and kept a good eye on our drinks, although a couple drinks were delayed when we moved from the bar to a table.

If you like fiery drinks and shooting oysters, The Leadbelly is a great bet. Just take note that you may need to find...

Before last night, I didn't know much about the Leadbelly except that it was started by the people who run Fat Radish across the street. I had been to Fat Radish and had a good time, so I figured the Leadbelly would be similar. The cocktails were great (cucumber julep, tequila rose etc.), but the dinner menu was more of a health food/tapas situation. We had a slice of beet and goat cheese tartan, plus some salads (including a whole grain and nut dish that reminded everyone of savory granola). We also had an assortment of oysters, which were great. The decor of the restaurant was kind of confusing, because the name led me to expect a 40s Louisiana/Bible Belt-type feel. This was somewhat present in the distressed walls with semi-exposed brick and upright piano, but the large cactus in the corner and terrariums in the bathroom were kind of lost on me. I think I would go back to the Leadbelly for drinks, but definitely not for dinner. They weren't offering anything substantial enough. Oh, and one more thing: Some of the cocktails had jalapeño in them even when it wasn't advertised on the menu. I didn't mind because I like spicy stuff, but I would think that this would be off-putting to...