Provocative food on the Upper West Side? When Jesús Núñez—a proponent of molecular gastronomy in Spain, where he was celebrated for creating dishes that were visually inventive and intellectually challenging—arrived to open his first American restaurant, the neighborhood was in a gustatory tizzy. After Graffit (now Gastroarte) debuted last winter, a stone’s throw from Lincoln Center, guests were surprised, though, to be ushered into what is one of the loveliest dining spaces in Manhattan. Beginning with a white-on-white tapas bar and ending in a glass-enclosed garden in the back, Gastroarte sports bold murals of a flamenco dancer in the bar and of a bullfighter and bull in the middle dining room. But the real art is in Núñez’s dishes, where color and texture—and a bit of whimsy—are as important as flavor. The chef’s now infamous Fake Truffles, with edible earth, is really falafel dyed black with squid ink and tinged with truffle essence. His Study of Spanish Moscatel—a jellied creation with fruit inside—re-imagines dessert as a modernist painting. The bar’s tapas menu is filled with comfortingly familiar offerings like empanadas, croquettes, and potato omelets—though the last is served in a martini glass.

Fake truffles
Savory carrot “cake” (Mahón cheese, asparagus)
Confit artichokes with Serrano ham and clams
Bacalao en salsa verde (ñora dried peppers, prawns cream, egg yolk)
A Study of Spanish Moscatel
view full menu here

Gastroarte has three distinct and equally appealing spaces. The informal, lively bar in the front is where to land for tapas and drinks. The gracious middle room is the most formal, just right for an important meal. And the lovely, glass-enclosed garden room in back might be perfect for a gathering of family or friends.

Before turning to the art of cooking, Núñez was a graffit (graffiti) artist—his tag, Sir13—who, like all street artists, sometimes found himself on the run from police. He brought some of that rebellious and experimental spirit to his Madrid restaurants, Flou and Polenta, where his menus included shark, and deer carpaccio.

dinner: Mon. 5 PM–11 PM; Tues.–Thurs. 5 PM–12 midnight;
Fri.–Sat. 5 PM–1 AM; Sun. 5 PM–11 PM
brunch: Sat.–Sun. 11 AM–4 PM

$25 (skate) to $28 (scallops, suckling pig, or lamb loin)
tapas: $8 (croquetas de jamón) to $15 (saffron rice with lobster)