Melibea (CLOSED)

Spanish restaurateur Hector Sanz (Barraca, Macondo, Rayuela) adds to his trio of Iberian-inflected spots with this Mediterranean-minded Village restaurant. Sanz has wrangled in fellow Spaniard Jesús Nuñez—currently running the kitchen next door at Barraca—to put his personal spin on coastal European cuisine: Venison moussaka is slick with spicy béchamel; homemade focaccia is layered with fresh burrata, tomato confit and Modena vinegar; and a six-minute egg is perched atop sunchoke cream, onion marmalade and foie gras. Tipping a hat to the restaurant's theatrical roots—it's named after the heroine of Fernando de Rojas's 15th-century tragicomedy La Celestina—velvet banquettes sit on elevated sections throughout, mimicking a mezzanine. The bar is the "stage," decked out with a sweeping curtainlike frame and well lit with brass light fixtures, and vino's the star, with 250 wines hailing from the Mediterranean (Spain's Cava, Lombardy's Franciacorta).