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Cuerno's fabada combine white beans, blood sausage and other meats for a dish that is even better than a French cassoulet.
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There is a simple dish people on the Mediterranean coast of Spain eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plump plum tomatoes are sliced in half. Slices of thick, rustic bread are toasted, then brushed with olive oil. The two are married by crushing a half tomato into a slice of the bread and smearing it generously all over the surface. The locals just south of Barcelona and inland toward Madrid often call this "con tomate," and they eat it with everything from eggs to chorizo. Unless you decide to concoct a slice yourself, it's not something you're likely to enjoy in Atlanta.

Wait a tick. Bites of the toasty slices smeared with acidic tomato and garlic can be eaten with a serving of brandada, salt cod pounded and soaked with milk, lemon, olive oil and garlic, at Cuerno in Midtown. Dab some of the salty fish over the crunchy bread, take a bite, and suddenly the jeweled waters of the Mediterranean loom before you.

Owner Riccardo Ullio is no stranger to the Atlanta restaurant scene. His Italian restaurant, Sotto Sotto, is one of the best in the city. Beleza, next door to Cuerno on Juniper Street, is a newly christened Brazilian beauty touting some of Atlanta's best cocktails.

But he has never produced a restaurant like Cuerno.

An enclave of Spanish cooking, it is the only one of its kind in the city, and the food, from talented, young Ken Bouche (who was preparing the food for Beleza before moving into Cuerno's kitchen) is close to exquisite. The restaurant embodies the bohemian spirit of Barcelona, even if many of the dishes, like paella, are from elsewhere.

Ullio freely admits that he loves Spanish food over his native Italian, and Cuerno seems a culmination of his direst dreams. Dark and brooding, the restaurant's name is befitting: "cuerno" means horn, and a life-sized bull piecemealed and sculpted together with a patchwork of metal from sculptor Thomas Prochnow, is the small room's focal point. Lacy Baroque curtains are the only signs of femininity in a space enclosed with thick, weathered wooden beams across the ceiling and a bar bedecked in studded leather. Antique Italian tiles accent the concrete walls.

In some ways the menu seems an introduction for those unfamiliar with Spanish dishes. But Bouche's execution of it is a deep interpretation that rings authentic and true. Dishes from la plancha (a griddle) are among the best, from giant gambas (prawns) to pillowy scallops drenched in olive oil and garlic, as are the brandada, a tapas offering, and cochinillo confitado — pulled meat from a suckling pig roasted with apples and pistachios. The pork is ethereally crusted and caramelized on its surface, giving way to a moist, savory meat. It's the kind of barbecue that makes you want to lick your fingers.

In Spain a restaurant that serves paella offers little else, but Cuerno devotes an entire section of its menu to this hearty mixture of rice and other goodies, from the classic paella Valenciana (made from saffron-laced rice with shrimp, mussels, chicken and cuttlefish) to specialties like the restaurant's rich offering of fideuà – where vermicelli replaces the rice and prawns and mushrooms dot the dish's blistered surface.

And while salt cod poached with honey and rosemary oil or braised veal cheek in a rich red wine sauce are tempting, it is the tapas portion of the menu that entices most. A pureed onion soup, served semi-warm with a tomato-raisin chutney, produces looks of amazement from everyone who tastes it. Pata negra (literally "black hoof/paw"), an Iberian ham (jamón Iberico) that has only been in the United States for a couple of months, is proudly carved tableside by Ullio himself, looking a little like a satisfied Grinch carving up the Whos roast beast.

This ham is no small matter: the Spanish make the best hams in the world; this one is made from free-range pigs that feed on acorns, giving the ham a nutty flavor. Eating thin slices of it is a little like chewing velvet. Ullio has had to be on a waiting list that includes a lottery system just to obtain one. At $20 a plate, it is the most expensive thing on his menu.

But go to any tapas bar in Asturias and you'll find fabada, the white bean stew distantly related to French cassoulet, but oh so much better. Giant white beans, morcilla (a heady, dark, blood sausage), spicy chorizo and pork shoulder make up the meat of the dish, and Bouche's version is as mean as any in Spain, rife with seasonings and saffron and juicy enough for dipping bits of bread.

The all-Spanish wine list is the most exciting to be offered in Atlanta for some time, and seeing Ullio down a dose of sparkling cava from a porron (a glass wine pitcher with a long, tubular spout for drinking) is a treat. Skip the chocolate on the dessert menu ( the Spanish have never liked it for anything but hot chocolate, anyway) and get authentically prepared crema Catalana, the most famous of Spanish custards (and the Spaniards invented the stuff) laced with cardamom and served with a shooter of café con leche "espuma," a foam of fuzzy milk and coffee./p>

It feels as if Cuerno has been coming to fruition for Ullio for a long time, the pinnacle of his efforts as a restaurateur. But for his customers, it is the beginning of a beautiful relationship: Spanish food and Atlanta. At last.

Food: Spanish

Service: Service: Ullio is often on hand to show off his skill with the porron, which is a delight, and servers seem informed and try to move quickly.

Address, telephone: 905 Juniper St. 678-904-4584

Price range: $$ - $$$

Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express

Hours of operation: Open for dinner Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Open Sunday from 5:30 to 10 p.m.

Best dishes: All of them. No, really. Some are brilliant (bacalao, brandada, cochinillo, fabada, scallops a la plancha), others are simply very good (fideuà, patatas brava, ham croquettes)

Vegetarian selections: Bouche has created a vegetarian paella just for veg-heads

Children: During earlier evening hours there's plenty for adventurous eaters to explore

Parking: Street parking on nearby Piedmont Ave. and a $5 valet is located one block north off Juniper on Peachtree Place (9th Street)

Reservations: Weekdays and Sundays yes; for parties of six or more only on Fridays and Saturdays

Wheelchair access: Yes

Smoking: No

Noise level: Medium

Patio: Two small sidewalk tables for drinks and smoking

Takeout: Yes

Web site: cuernorestaurant.com