Yerba Buena.(Restaurant review)

The term yerba buena refers to a number of different types of mint--exactly which depends on where in the Americas you are--and seems an apt name for a pan-Latin restaurant. Yerba Buena, which opened about four months ago in a slightly cursed East Village spot, unfussily pulls together a mix of cuisines--including Mexican (tacos), Peruvian (ceviche), and Cuban (a variation on the Cuban sandwich in pizza form)--in a room in which the dark wood, potted palms, and slatted blinds give the place a certain "Our Man in Havana" feel.

The chef, Julian Medina, has a way of making individual tastes register, often by slightly undercooking vegetables, and his care for detail--the airy batter on the tilapia or the balance of flavors in the guacamole--can have a transformative effect on familiar dishes. Salt is a keynote, often thanks to the use of chicharron (deep-fried pork rind). This is first encountered in the picadas, a paper cone full of pork scraps, chorizo, fried plantain, and miniature croquettes. But the porcine climax of the evening is the lechon, or suckling pig. The pork, succulent and pulled, has the fibrous texture of prosciutto or Peking duck. If the kitchen at Yerba Buena is a striking success, the bar is even more so. Familiar drinks, like the mojito, ...