With Casa Mono, a snug little restaurant on the corner of 17th and Irving Place, Mario Batali has stepped off of familar Italian earth and onto virgin territory--the land of Spain, specifically of the culinary and fashion hotbed known as Barcelona. By all means, if you have not visited, go now, and dont miss La Vigne de Senior, a charming little wine and tapas bar in the hip neighborhood known as the Borne. But back here at Casa Mono, you can get a taste of what awaits across the ocean. Here in this cozy corner restaurant, the kitchen is in the able hands of chef Andy Nusser, who was Batali’s chef de cuisine at Babbo for many years. Cooking in an open kitchen (sit up close and you may learn a thing or two), Nusser delivers a menu that excites and invigorates in its simplicity. This is food that makes you smile until your face hurts.

The room is warm and rustic, with Moroccan-tiled floors, crowded tables, and a glossy espresso-toned wood food bar for up close and personal dining next to Nusser, who cooks in an open kitchen with Elizabeth and Brad, his terrific crew of sous chefs. The room fills up quickly, but the seats at the bar are held for walk-ins, and waiting for tables is done next door at Bar Jamon, the most divine sort of waiting room I have ever known. (Hospitals, dentist’s and doctor’s offices take note. Serving copious amounts of wine, Jamon Serrano, Manchego cheese aged in rosemary and lard, plates of smoked trout salad, and tortilla d’Espana make waiting significantly more pleasant than reading back issues of People.) Both Casa Mono and Bar Jamon draw large crowds throughout the night, so it may be that you can barely fit between the slinky babes dressed in Stella McCartney’s best, the tribes of metrosexuals discussing the and the pros and cons of Kiehl’s All Sport shampoo, and the chic, dressed down neighborhood regulars scattered about, wondering who these fabulous people are, but the right thing to do would be to grab your sliver of real estate and be patient. You’ll soon be rewarded.

All plates on the menu at Casa Mono are appetizer portion size and range in price from $3 for a classic Catalan dish of toasted bread rubbed with tomato flesh, garlic, and sea salt to a $14 knock out plate of simply grilled lamb chops marinated in preserved lemon, served under a shower of homemade slivered parsnip chips. Nusser also turns out a stunning dish called Sepia a la Plancha (one 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).

Andrea Strong