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This venue is closed.

Park Slope’s Beso, an early comer to Fifth Avenue in the late nineties, is the kind of casual yet creative restaurant that every neighborhood should have. While most of the menu items could be found at any bistro, the kitchen differentiates itself by admitting a strong South American influence—which means a spicy chimichuri sauce dresses the tender hanger steak, and the salmon filet is coated with a panca chili crust and flanked by wild mushroom–filled pastries. The small plates, such as rich duck empanadas with a guava ginger sauce, and ceviche in a coconut-lime and ginger marinade, stick more closely to Latin recipes. The room is welcoming, if a little mild, with a few art deco light fixtures, a red picket fence running the length of the narrow space, and a pastel floral mural up top. And while weeknights find the place empty, weekends are usually mobbed. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Sat.–Sun., 10 a.m.–3:30 p.m.; reservations not accepted for brunch.

Duck empanadas, $8.50; panca chili-encrusted salmon, $14