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The Brooklyn Paper / John Barclay

On the Marco: Shuttered Porchetta in April but has come back to the Smith Street scene with Carniceria, at left, a meat-heavy standout on the restaurant row.

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If anyone deserves a drink, it’s Marco Rivero. After his short-lived pairing with fiery chef Jason Neroni ended last April in a flurry of petit larceny charges and bad press, the restaurateur shuttered Porchetta, his porcine parlor of worship, and wasted no time starting over.

Joining forces with Cuban-born chef Alex Garcia (Gaucho Steak Company, Novo, Calle Ocho), considered one of the founders of Nuevo Latino cooking, and executive chef Ramone Perez, Rivero opened his new restaurant, Carniceria, in just one month. And, after dining there, I can say he made a great decision.

With the brutal warm weather we’ve been having, sizzling plates of meat sounded like they might be a bit too much for me. I was relieved to see that Garcia’s menu offers lighter fare than beef, though. There are seafood ceviches, plenty of salads and fish dishes, and a fruit soup that may be the most attractive, refreshing starter on a restaurant menu this season.

The soup begins with a thick pile of corn-studded crabmeat salad in a large, shallow bowl. Around the pristine mound, a waiter poured a vivid pink soup of chopped watermelon and its juices. You spoon up a bit of the delicate seafood, the corn adding a textural counterpoint, and dip the spoon into the fruit broth. It’s a wonderfully alive combination: cold, fresh, crunchy, sweet and winey, with the crab’s white dressing slowly adding ribbons of cream to the fruit’s liquid.

Both the ceviche “camarones,” with shrimp and grapefruit, and the “mariscos,” a mix of mussels, shrimp, octopus, roasted peppers and green olives, were clean tasting, but the mixed seafood dish fared better than the other thanks to the spark of salt provided by the olives. The shrimp, though sweet and pleasantly tart with grapefruit, needed a stronger hand with seasoning to come alive.

Once I was sufficiently cooled by the light starters, it was time to dig into the “carne” that gives the restaurant its name. The meat here is gamier than the mild flesh of penned animals — the restaurant “proudly serves grass-fed Patagonian free-range beef,” in case you’re wondering about the cow’s pedigree — a flavor enhanced with a good shake of salt at our table. Order the “combinacion,” and you’ll receive a lean, agreeably chewy skirt steak, short ribs buttery with fat, and a thick, properly greasy chorizo strong with pepper. With all that meat, the last thing we needed was an order of the “gaucho fries.” They’re cooked in soy bean oil and their texture is nearly lacey with an evident potato taste. No matter what you order, add a plate of these fries.

Food like this calls for big bold reds, and the well-priced wine list doesn’t disappoint. There are Argentinean Cabernet Sauvignons, a rich Garnacha from Spain and complex Pinot Noirs from California. White wine drinkers will be pleased with the variety of crisp Pinot Grigios and more complex Gewurztraminers and Albarinos.

And as far as cocktails go, you can toast your dinner with the house specialty: the “pork Margarita.” A stinging mix of fresh peach juice and tequila in a glass rimmed with pork cracklins, the drink was developed under Neroni but, thanks to its popularity, has found a home at Carniceria, too.

The five desserts are based on dulce de leche, a rich caramel made by slowly cooking sweetened milk. I’d forgo the overly sweet, runny creme brulee for the terrific flan. It’s served as a small, firm disc atop a brittle chocolate cookie. The creamy custard goes luxe with a necklace of the caramel and another of sour cream that adds just the right tart note to the sweet components.

After only a few months, the kitchen at Carniceria is delivering lusty fare in a room that buzzes with good will. The only thing lingering from the dark days of Neroni’s reign is that pork Margarita — there’s nothing here on the rocks.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper