By Tom Sietsema
Sunday, May 20, 2012

Then: Showing its age (2011)

Again: At 19, va-va-voom!

For a long time, the only thing holding back the best tapas restaurant in the country from acquiring even greater adjectives was its tired setting. The original Jaleo suffered from a bad case of the frumps.

A top-to-bottom makeover curated by Spanish designer Juli Capella in March erased the problem. Go now, and your eyes pop. Giant red letters spell out the restaurant's name in the windows, the hostess directs traffic from what appears to be an enormous flower pot, and the seating extends to a couple of glass-topped foosball tables you can graze on while sitting on chairs made from Vespa scooters. Ropy dividers lend a natural look.

Under the watchful eye of chef Jose Andres, Jaleo has always been good about keeping its menu up-to-date, and right now is no different, starting with a list of wines and cocktails that diners can select from an iPad.

Every dish is designed to tickle the senses. Creamy salmon tartare is served in bite-size cones topped with bright orange roe, liquid cod gushes from a delicate, honey-lashed empanada, and a fluffy, chorizo-dotted omelet done "Jose's way" glides to the table in a hot steel skillet. Always pushing the envelope, Andres has found a new way to deliver croquettes: in sneakers made of resin. "Jose makes large plates, too," some of which star Iberico, the prized meat of Spain's black-hooved, acorn-eating pigs, the menu boasts.

You may not relish everything about the re-thought Jaleo. (I'd lose the tableau of falling people in the back.) One thing is certain: It's impossible to be bored here.