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“Casa Mono/Bar Jamon”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Spanish	Gramercy	Moderate	Great

e of several dishes cooked on the flat top grill), possibly the best version of squid I have ever eaten. The white Spanish squiggly creature is meaty and tender, and charred so it retains a bit of smoke. It is plated simply with a spicy salsa verde made from lemon and parsley. Pared down and minimalist, this is a shining example of less is more. Bring me less any day if it’s prepared by Nusser.

There are other masterpieces of squid on the menu as well, like Chipirones ($10), tiny, tender creatures about the size of your pinky nail, served on a salad of petite white beans the size of tic tacs, tossed in sauce made from pomegranate molasses, giving the dish a sweet-tart spark that wakes up your tongue, and makes your mouth want to applaud. Ditto for the scallops with Cava and chorizo ($12)—a brilliant yet renegade take on steamed mussels. Nusser prepares the scallops in their beautiful shells, steaming them in a bath of Cava (sparkling wine from Spain) until they pop open, revealing fat, jeweled mollusks in their beds. The scallops are served in their open-mouthed shells, in a rich, smoky chorizo broth that should by all means be mopped up with bread and licked from the plate before you allow it to be removed from your sight.

Casa Mono is a lively, buzzing spot that makes eating interesting by bringing us ingredients from a far off land, prepared by a chef who cooks with simplicity and whimsy. Sure, you will probably have to wait (the lines at Lupa never get any smaller either), but so be it. Life’s best treasures often require some patience. And just think, you can drink Spanish wine and nibble on salt cod croquettes while you wait, no back issues of People magazines in sight.

Casa Mono, 52 Irving Place (at 17th Street), 212-253-2773

Bar Jamon, 125 East 17th Street (b/w Irving and Third), 212-253-2773 (no reservations).

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Posted: December 28, 2003

Other restaurants in Gramercy :
+ Casa Mono/Bar Jamon   + Pure Food & Wine   + Parea   + Gramercy Tavern (Lunch)   + 15 East   + Tocqueville   + Irving Mill   + Bar Milano   + Irving Mill   + Maialino   + Asellina   + Corkbuzz Wine Studio   + Breads, by guest reviewer Tracy Weiss   

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