Starbelly

Starbelly Restaurant Review:

Like its sister restaurant Beretta, Starbelly is a trendy operation. The small, design-rich dining room feels like a well-appointed lodge, with multi-hued wood slats along the walls and a long, blonde bar with beer and wine bottles lined up neatly on the shelves. Despite a somewhat haughty, hipster vibe, the kitchen churns out pleasant California snack food with a seasonal bent at good prices. The pizza is mediocre, with a sourdough crust like an overgrown cracker, but the small plates, salads and tantalizing bites---always presented thoughtfully in stylish vessels---more than compensate. The simplest, homiest dishes fare the best: a runny duck egg, webbed with crunch on the bottom, draped over a bed of croutons and browned wild mushrooms in a miniature roasting pan; a sumptuous rabbit rillette with onion jam on a handsome board; humble grits with braised greens, dished up in an elegant tureen. Thanks to chef Adam Timney's salumeria experience, the charcuterie---particularly the mortadella---is first-rate. At the other end of the meat spectrum, puffy miniature corn dogs come with chutney-like ketchup and coarse-grained mustard, both crafted in-house. Sample esoteric beers from the thoughtful list of drafts and bottles, but be sure to save room for dessert---specifically, salted caramel pots de crème.