Pamplona

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Even though chef owner Alex Urena won a following for his namesake debut just off Park Avenue South (it was heady Spanish fare with foams and shellfish gelees aplenty), people were just not buying the $100 tasting. “There are very few real three-star restaurants in New York because people don’t want to spend it,” says Urena, days before the opening of Pamplona, his scaled-down version of the original located in the same narrow space on 28th Street. (In a questionable scheduling move, Sept. 4 is also the day his second child is due.) “I want a place that is simple and cheap and really fun to visit.” Urena is sticking with Spain, but this time focusing strictly on Basque cuisine, the region he knows best, having worked in Navarre for four years.

The menu features tapas (white asparagus, olives, San Sebastian chorizo), appetizers (snow crabs, trout dusted with paprika and olive oil) and shareable entrees like paella, and whole Dorade and Hake for two. He’s chosen to name his restaurant after a popular frat boy tourist destination. But has the chef run with the bulls? “I did run, but it was two blocks away…and still kinda scary. It such a fun time. Everybody is drinking wine and eating chorizo with sweet peppers.”

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New York restaurants, Spanish restaurants