Even in a neighborhood where you can dine among suspended rowboat fountains, inside a tree house or on floors covered with sand, Monkey Town stands out. In its original incarnation in 2003, the space—a run-down loft in East Williamsburg—hosted film screenings, live bands and video installations a few nights each month, with a limited menu (a few appetizers and entrées). The place caught on, so owner Montgomery Knott and partners decided to close, relocate and reopen as a full-scale restaurant in an old garage with 19-foot ceilings a few blocks off Bedford Avenue. The dining room has an industrial-romantic vibe: Smooth cement floors are dotted with candles, low tables  and futonlike couches. In the back is a 32-seat screening room with four floor-to-ceiling screens. Even a trip to the bathroom is an multisensory experience: A group of 23 artists have created a special “bathroom sound series”—90-second trippy scores paired with moody yellow lighting. With all the eye candy, the place could probably get by serving mediocre food. But chef Coleman Lee Foster (Chanterelle, Bouley Bakery, Gramercy Tavern) seems to have been energized by the surrounding creativity. He adds kafir lime leaves to the meatballs; gives lasagna a Mexican identity with black beans, watercress and Gorgonzola; and spikes the risotto with truffled mushrooms and dandelion greens. The best dish we tried—braised short ribs—is cooked for five hours with grapefruit and orange juices (among other secret ingredients) and spooned over oatmeal cake. Heather Sharf, who hails from Relish around the corner, puts artful spins on desserts, whether it’s a frozen nougatine ice-cream cake flecked with toasted oatmeal and almonds, or a pink-hued, rose-pomegranate cheesecake on a pistachio-cardamom base. Nothing wrong with a little monkeying around when it’s done right.—TONY