Latin

**** -- Four Stars

Address:  1 Perry St., at Greenwich Avenue
Phone: (212)620-0808
Cuisine: Modern Latin cooking
Vibe: Sleek, lively West Village haunt
Occasion: Group dinner; Casual date; Night out.
Hours: Dinner; Mon-Wed, 5p.m..-11:30p.m., Thu-Sat, 5p.m.-2a.m, Sun, 5p.m.-2a.m.
Don't Miss Dish:  Manchego croquetes; Tilapia tacos; Lechon (Roasted suckling pig); Watermelon fries: Churros.
Drink: Mezcal Maid
Finish With: Cinnamon-dusted churros with dulce de leche & chocolate sauce
Average Price: Appetizers, $11, Entrees, $25, Dessert, $9.
Reservations:  Reservations recommended.

Cheat Sheet:
Drink the: Mezcal Maid
Nibble On: Manchego croquetes, tilapia tacos, flounder limeno ceviche
Eat: Lechon (Roasted suckling pig)
Finish With: Churros with dulce de leche & chocolate dipping sauces

Capsule: Julian Medina on the rise in Greenwich Village 

You never really have a great meal at a bad restaurant.  Did you ever notice that?  Chef Julian Medina has had his share of restaurant successes, but Yerba Buena Perry is his best and most creative effort yet.  Have you ever eaten watermelon fries?  Or even imagined eating them for that matter?    They're terrific -- a combination of crunchy, sweet, and salty.   There's a considerable and exotic fry menu with hearts of palm, cactus, and avocado fries coated in panko and served with a homemade mate ketchup made with a slightly sweet, bitter tea that adds depth to ordinary ketchup.     

Yerba Buena Perry is really an evolution of the original Yerba Buena, a modern Latin eatery that opened last year in the East Village.  The newest Yerba Buena Perry opened a few weeks ago on Perry Street in the West Village.  It looks a lot like its East Village sibling.  The space is sleek, furnished with white leather banquettes, black & white tiled floors, dark wood table tops, and exposed brick walls.  There's a handsome, hand-carved bar at the back with a white marble bar top and a Latin-bent cocktail menu. Several of the dishes and the drinks  are flavored with the restaurant's namesake, yerba buena (Spanish mint.)    You'll find yerba buena in the Pisco Mojito, Old Cuban, and in my favorite cocktail on the list, the The Mezcal Maid mixed with fresh cucumber, lime, and yerba buena.  Last year, was all about absinthe.  This fall, it's mezcal, a spirit made from the agave plant, but smokier and more complex than tequila.   The restaurant's tequila selection is' too small and could use some attention, but the kitchen is sending out excellent Latin food..

Chef Medina draws inspiration from all over Latin America, including Brazil, Cuba, Peru, Argentina, and Spain.   He cooks with Latin ingredients, like Peruvian corn called maiz cancha, aji amarillo, manchego, habanero, and rocotto, (a spicy Peruvian pepper.)  There's a wonderful selection of untraditional ceviches, like seared rib eye mixed with aji amarillo, cilantro and sea urchin as well as flounder with lime, red onions, avocado and habanero.   I had a good tuna ceviche tossed with onion, pickled watermelon and a soy jalapeno sauce, and an even better, aji amarillo-spiced flounder ceviche, scattered with diced sweet potato, raw and toasted maiz cancha, which is a little like the Peruvian version of corn nuts, only better. 

We often think comfort food means familiar foods, like a burger and fries, steak, or ice cream.   But Medina proves otherwise New Yorkiers to Brazilian, Cuban, Argentinian and Peruvian comfort food staples.  In Brazil, an entire meal can be made of Picada, a fried assortment of yucca, chorizo, pork belly, and fried pork rinds called chicharron.  At Yerba Buena Perry, Medina offers an appetizer version of picada that comes in a paper cone filled with fried yucca chips, chicharrones, a feisty Spanish chorizo, rocotto, and tostones.   The Cubans feast on lechon, a roasted suckling pig traditionally served over yucca.  I've had a lot of roasted suckling pig this year, but Medina's lechon is outstanding.   He achieves an achingly tender pork, served over a thick yucca puree and a unique habanero tomato salsa with subtle hints of orange and garlic. 

Medina injects dashes of sophistication into manchego croquetes which emerge atypically fluffy nibbles specked with pickled jalapeno and served alongside a salsa verde dipping sauce.  Or warm empanadas filled with a savory-sweet combination of manchego, dried fig, Peruvian corn, and spinach.  One of my favorite dishes is the camarones con palmito -- meaty shrimp sauteed in a fiery tomato salsa seasoned with lots of jalapeno, capers, and olives.      

But a few dishes fall short, like a mushy and overcooked black cod in a yerba buena consome and a dried-out "ropa de vieja de pato," a trio of duck confit, a fried duck egg, and  duck leg.   There's an odd-tasting riff on a creme brulee made with a thick eggfruit custard, but the rest of the desserts proved just as creative as the rest of the menu, like a dulce de leche parfait layered with Mexican chocolate mousse and a pisco panna cotta bottom. The best dessert on the menu are the warm, cinnamon-dusted churros accompanied by an addictive dulce de leche and chocolate dipping sauces. 

Medina's already planning his next move -- a taqueria ,  In the meantime, he's proved himself a chef to watch at Yerba Buena Perry, creating playful, vibrant dishes with Latinl ingredients.  Me, I'm looking forward to taking comfort in watermelon fries and lechon this fall. 

Address: 109 South Sixth St., near Bedford Ave., Williamsburg (718) 782-2333
Dinner: Sun.-Thur., 5 p.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m.-midnight. Closed Sundays.
Cuisine: Contemporary Latin.
Vibe: Vibrant Spanish villa.
Occasion: Neighborhood dinner; Group dinner.
Don't miss dish:   Pinchos de res (cubed filet mignon); escolar in blood orange sauce.
Price: Appetizers, $7-12; entrees, $15-21; desserts, $7-8.
Reservations: Accepted.

These days, there are many temptations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I learned this en route to Viñas, a new Latin American restaurant in this burgeoning neighborhood.

First, there's Peter Luger. The aroma of its butter-sopped porterhouses wafts out onto the streets. Literally. If you can resist this seduction, there's yet another: the lure of Dressler, with its romantic portrait window and sophisticated American fare.

Though nearly impossible to refuse both temptations on my first visit, I persevered toward a quiet street with few signs of life. Then, there was the unexpected sight of a vibrant tile-topped bar, visible through the window. As you make your way inside Viñas, you'll feel as if you've just crossed the East River and ended up in Spain. It's decorated with terra-cotta floors, leather-trimmed benches and salvaged wood tables.

But the more unexpected discovery is the food. The menu covers more territory than its decor: It not only ambles through Spain, but also Argentina, Peru and Puerto Rico. The chef, Henry Lopez Jr., is Puerto Rican. Other than a six-month stint as a line cook at Ola, Lopez has spent little time training in prominent kitchens.

Yet, if you tasted his expertly poached escolar, you'd never know it. The snowy-white hunk is sauced with a blood orange mojo, and sits above a crunchy mountain of coconut rice. Even a swine snob would find his braised pork belly fetching. Its crackly skin gives way to truffle honey-tinged meat that's fanned around a yucca cake. The yucca cake (yucafongo) is deep-fried and stuffed with squid - an entree unto itself.

It's gutsy to peddle meats so close to the legendary Peter Luger. But Viñas takes a decidedly Argentinean approach where steaks are concerned. Juicy cubes of filet mignon are skewered and served with an anchovy- and tuna-spiked red pepper sauce that's a tangy hybrid between chimichurri and tonnato sauce. There's a garlicky skirt steak and a flavorful trio of lamb chops placed over shredded collard greens and a side of crusty purple potatoes.

The lamb chops didn't arrive with an entourage of servers. They were brought to the table by the chef himself, who sometimes makes deliveries. Viñas is a small-scale production. General manager Cliff Robinson plays the part of server and, more impressively, the sommelier. He has designed a sizable and affordable roster of wines by the glass (15 whites and 13 reds).

In addition to full-flavored meats, Viñas offers intriguing empanadas and ceviches, including spicy shrimp invigorated by Peruvian chilies and roasted tomatoes as well as kalamansi-marinated scallops.

The restaurant's shortcomings somehow make it more endearing. There are missteps, like a red snapper ceviche in an excessively sweet passionfruit sauce, and some comically small dishes: a miniature quail and a marble-sized nibble of goat cheese in a guava shell for dessert. Considering the size of the staff, dessert is an afterthought.

The dining room is scattered with a few locals and friends of the chef or owner Mike Jaramillo. Jaramillo has amassed a tiny empire in Williamsburg, which also includes Sweet Farm Bakery, a Maxim gym and another gym that will open just next door to the restaurant in February.

Viñas' inventive Latin fare is still relatively undiscovered here. It shouldn't be.

Address: 165 Allen St., btwn. Rivington & Stanton Sts.
Phone: 212.253.8840
Cuisine: "Freestyle" Latin American & Spanish
Scene: Island chic
Hours: Dinner, Sun-Thu, 5:30-11pm, Fri & Sat, 5:30-12pm; Brunch, Fri & Sat, 10am-5pm.
First Bite Impressions: An admirable work in progress with a truly inspired cocktail menu
Don't Miss Dish: Ecuadorian seafood stew
Price: Appetizers, $13; Entrees, $25.
Reservations: Reservations accepted.

Chef-owner Maximo Tejada (Patria & Lucy) & restaurateur Hector Sanz couldn't have chosen a more favorable season to introduce New Yorkers to their sexy, tropical oasis with a freestyle menu that liberally wanders through Latin America & Spain.  While Allen Street's only just beginning to reap the benefits of a Lower East Side dining boom, this Latino-bent newcomer has undoubtedly made aesthetic strides on this otherwise bleak street.  Rayuela's airy, two-story space is furbished with natural wood tables, exposed brick walls, breezy linen curtains, stone floors & earthy green banquettes. 

You aught make a pitstop at the generous, slate-topped bar for Rayuela's main attraction: Junior Merino's vibrant cocktail menu.  An impressive selection of fresh-squeezed concoctions, stylized classics and made-to-order red, white & rose sangria, Merino takes creative liberties with exotic ingredients and liquors of the pisco and tequila sorts.  Open only two weeks and neighborhood locals had already claimed bar stool territory and made a commendable dent in the cocktail list.  Me, I was suddenly whisked away from the madness of the city to the tropics, lounging poolside as I sipped on a luxurious, lemongrass-infused watermelon juice muddled with fresh mint and limes.  While perhaps more appealing to the eye than the tongue, "coming up roses" appears a perfectly romantic, rose petal-tinged tall glass of champagne, rose water, lime juice and Bacardi Razz.  Instead, the men seemed to gravitate toward the pisco sour, served straight up, in a stylized martini glass with a bright splash of bitters. 

Come time for dinner, the hostess guided us passed an olive tree (imported from California) that stretched its limbs up to the second floor dining room, as if we were happily ascending into an urban tree house.  There, we were left to explore an ambitious and all too complicated menu that ambles through the Carribbean, Latin America, South America and even into Spain.  Our well-intended, but overeager waiter, debriefed us on Rayuela's (hopscotch in Spanish) freestyle philosophy, encouraging guests to "skip" around an overwhelming list of ceviches, empanadas and embrace Tejada's contemporary interpretations: ham-wrapped scallops in a kiwi citrus sauce, a duck breast with a foie gras-topped arepa and a side of truffle-scented white asparagus.

The tropical juices aren't bound to the downstairs cocktail lounge, but also spill into the savory side of things, especially the ceviches.  Tejada splashes tuna & calamari with watermelon juice and marinates corvino (a whitefish similar to sea bass) in a blood orange & carica bath.  Unfortunately, the ones I sampled weren't served by the weightiness of the sugar.  The corvina ceviche might as well been served in a shotglass, or at least with a spoon, an overly sweet, citrus soup that swallowed any traces of flavor the corvina might've once claimed.  Even a hefty dose of cilantro & red onion couldn't balance out the flavors.  The red snapper was a more successful pursuit: buttery dominoes of snapper, blissfully soaking in a sesame-dotted soy sauce, capped off with a crunchy julienne of peppers, cucumbers & avocado.  But truth be told, the snapper was more grounded in Asian tradition than Nuevo Latino.  This was curiously also the case with the hamachi ceviche, tasty, and the "tuna rellena" - which wasn't.  It was like searching for lost treasure as I dug through a bland & clumpy mound of avocado in search of a few scarce strands of crab and shrimp. 

Rayuela's kitchen performs at its best when Tejada sticks closer to home.  An Ecuadorian seafood stew was generously stocked with superiorly moist scallops, briny clams, mussels and octopus, all wading in an aromatic coconut and yellow chile-laced broth that snuck a subtle heat.  Beyond supple strips of sepia were elevated by a garlicky white wine sauce and a faintly sweet, manchego was elevated by a rich pocket of wild mushrooms.  But the most delightful arrival to the table was the bread basket.  Warm doughy nibbles of Colombian "pan de bono" - made from yucca flour & a hint of queso - were perfectly paired with a creamy blend of butter, honey & roasted garlic.  Indulge at your own risk. 

Alas, when you attempt to cover this much territory, it's bound to result in inconsistencies and a few misteps.  While Rayuela would benefit from paring down its menu, this Lower East Sider is worth a trip if not for the cocktails alone. 

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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The latest in a series of tapas joints to grace Manhattan kicked-off Tuesday evening after a number of setbacks and massive speculation (myself included).  Of course I had to see this with my own eyes.  Opening night and Noho's newest resident was abuzz, brimming with tapas loyalists, gourmet groupies and trendy types.  Every chair was taken in the narrow 90-seat space, industrially-outfitted with unfinished wood tables, brick walls and an eating counter with a view into a white subway-tiled open kitchen: think Casa Mono meets Boqueria on a dimmer.  But Mercat's most inviting accessory was a centerstage ham-and-cheese station, which will no doubt allure potential loiterers (myself included).   

Owner & native Barcelonian, Jaime Reixach, has enlisted chefs David Seigal (Bouley) & Ryan Lowder (Jean Georges) to employ his Catalan-inspired vision of small plates, which take the form of snails & chorizo skewers and sepia ink-stained noodles. While the menu's peppered with the usual suspects - padron peppers, patatas bravas & salt-cod fritters - some dishes weren't as markedly Spanish on paper: guinea hen with wax beans & cranberries and grilled hanger steak with roasted vegetables & horseradish.  The wine list is entirely Spanish, hosting five white & red wines by the glass as well as a vivacious strawberry-red cava that makes for the perfect you-can-wait-at-the-bar aperitif.

While the fare's not as boldly seasonal as Boqueria or relentlessly authentic as Tia Pol, Mercat will likely succeed in the clamorous pursuit of tapas.  For starters, the house-cured salt cod fritters prove atypically light & fluffy: battery, salt cod-spiked pillows emit an irresistible and undeniably funnel cake-like fragrance (in a good way).  I received further funnel cake confirmation from a neighboring table.  A platoon of "stringy potatoes", cradling a fried egg, also whisked me back to the potato stix of my youth. 

Dusted in cornmeal, crispy sweetbread nuggets were pleasingly set on a vibrant backdrop of shaved fennel, capers, oranges & red onions.  The real standout was the monkfish a la plancha.  Simple but brilliantly flavorful, the monkfish proved flaky and moist, strewn on a forest-green bed of terrifically fresh ramps and further elevated by a paprika-tinged romesco sauce.  The only thing missing from the dish was a hunk of bread to lap up the remains of the smoky romesco. 

But neither a bouillabasse nor a stew, the Catalan fisherman's stew sadly ran adrift in a shallow bowl of mussels with one lone, head-on shrimp, wading in an overly garlicky, oil-drenched sauce.  While the churros suffered a sugar-coated death, the melted chocolate was dangerously drinkable.  Though there are some noticeable kinks, Mercat holds much promise.  Besides, the hip masses pouring through the door certainly didn't seem to mind any opening night wrinkles.

45 Bond St., btwn. Lafayette & Broadway
212-529-8600

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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243 West 14th Street (betwn. 7th & 8th Aves.)
(212)620-0077

TYPE: Global cuisine
VIBE: Moody Meatpacking (sans the velvet rope)
OCCASION:  Dining in packs or "seal the deal" late-night with a cocktail and dessert
DON'T MISS DISH: Honey's ceviche trio
DON'T BOTHER DISH: Paella tapas & apple cobbler
PRICE: $40 (with a cocktail)
HOURS: Monday through Wednesday, 5 PM-2 AM; Thursday-Saturday 5 PM-4 AM; Sunday 5 PM-12 AM.
RESTAURANT GIRL RATES: 6 (above average)
SEATING: 90 seats & private room in the back (holds 40)
FINAL WORD: Eat with a fast crowd - commitment phobic diners can load up on appetizers before taking their place in line at Marquee or Bungalow 8.

Honey isn't a dining destination per se, but it's certainly an appealing Meatpacking alternative to the bouncer and velvet rope-plagued, mob scenes of late.  Happily lacking the in your face accoutrements of most of its neighbors (Buddakan & Sascha), this warm, candle-lit restaurant lounge is mellowly outfitted with tan walls, brown banquettes and mirrored-walls.  In fact, there's really nothing in your face about this newcomer, except perhaps for the ubiquitous appearance of honey in both the food and cocktails.  Matt Shendel, creator of Dip & Cain, delivers Honey, geared toward a hipster crowd, dishing in global cuisine, heavy on the Spanish and Asian influences. 

With Victor Rodriguez in the kitchen (Dos Caminos), Honey's food is worth not overlooking, that is, if you concentrate your efforts wholly on the appetizers, especially the ceviches.  A trio of extremely fresh and creative ceviches - tuna colada, shrimp daiquiri and minted snapper - managed to make such an impression on my eating companions, that each argued a different favorite (mine was the tuna colada).  Though the strawberry vinaigrette in the shrimp daiquiri disturbed me in theory as another gimmicky ploy to be different, it was nonetheless, a flavorful and plump shrimp offering.  Likewise, not a complaint was uttered about the tuna colada, washed with a wasabi-flavored coconut juice or the snapper with mint.  Even the warm spinach dip, dressed up with a winter truffle essence, was devoured, pumpernickel bagel chips and all.  

If only we had continued on through the appetizer menu, we might've sailed through dinner without disappointment.  But committed to experiencing Rodriguez' food and the greatly praised paella tapas (by Rodriquez himself & the staff), we discovered mostly misguided entrees, a perfect example being the paella tapas. Hot on the trail of the recent paella trend, this one came deconsructed, which brought me to the conclusion that paella was never intended for dissection, but rather should be preserved as a celebrated mess of yellow rice with chorizo and seafood buried treasure.  However, this Japanese spin, arrived with red snapper atop all too carefully molded rectangles of dry yellow rice, oddly drizzled in honey pimiento coulis, with a side of chorizo .  Similarly, I grieved over the wasabi pea crusted ahi tuna - a plate stacked with nicely seared tuna, but poorly paired with a heavy soba seaweed salad and a flavorless maki roll, a thoughtless plate filler.  I took no issue with the espresso rubbed kobe flatiron steak, other than the fact that it was weighing down a fluffy plate-sized fetarepa - a fluffy corn pancake with feta and mozzarella cheese - delicately dressed in a white horseradish miso foam. 

As for dessert, skip the dry and tasteless apple cobbler, but don't pass over the  "smore-like" molten chocolate cake, layered with graham cracker twile and a velvety marshmallow meringue.      

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl

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