Ferdinand was opened this summer by restaurant designer Owen Kamihira (See Naked City), the father of the Buddakan Buddha and the Continental olive. No surprise, then, that this new place has the sleek sensibility and witty visual details of a Starr restaurant. The bovine motif recurs in tiled murals. Chandeliers are draped in lacy black veils. Moorish tile lines the bar and bathroom walls, while arched doorways painted a stucco-like yellow mimic rustic Spanish architecture.

It's also as loud as any of the charter members of SRO, a combined effect of the bare floors, festive atmosphere and the impressive lineup of all Spanish wines. Beverage options also include two kinds of vina afrutado, available by the pitcher or glass. We sampled the clericot, a white wine-based punch afloat with cubes of melon and slices of citrus.

The food is straight tapas — hot and cold, salads, bocadillos (sandwiches) and pinchos — and for the most part nicely crafted. Chef Blake Joffe has worked at Alma de Cuba, El Vez and Continental Midtown, but his early days cooking in Spain are readily apparent in the flaky empanada stuffed with eggplant and lentils, and drizzled with a swirl of romesco sauce, and in the traditional bacalao croquettes — crisp, velvety bites of fried salt cod.

You might expect style to trump substance in a restaurant owned by a designer, but it doesn't. Some of the best dishes are the most subtly seasoned. Cubes of charred watermelon are blanketed with a thin slice of Serrano ham, skewered with a thread of tarragon and licked with olive oil. An asparagus and crab flan is a delicate, creamy custard served with a spoon. Albondigas, bite-sized lamb, beef and pork meatballs spiked with nutmeg, are paired with a gentle garlic almond sauce.

The missteps, slight as they are, are still tasty enough to polish off. A salad of baby spinach and arugula is laced with a honey vinaigrette and chunks of pungent Cabrales cheese, but its crowning roasted quail is a bit too crisp and a touch underseasoned. The rosemary, monkfish and pork belly pinchos are an inspired combination with hearty flavor, but the pork belly is overcooked, its luxuriant fat melted away to stringy meat.

There's always more vino to try, and a short list of desserts offers other sweet supplements to the meal: apple bread pudding, flan with seasonal fruit and saffron rice pudding. We tried the churros and were highly rewarded. The strips of dough are creamy on the inside and bronzed to deep-fried perfection, their ridges made for dipping in the accompanying bowl of dark melted chocolate. At $4 a plateful, I'm ready to start a chant of my own.

(e_ludwig@citypaper.net)