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With seating for only eight pairs and a kitchen smaller than you’d find in a Manhattan apartment, this Mediterranean sliver of a restaurant guarantees an intimate dining experience. Originally conceived as a catering company, Oak only opened to the public in this narrow brick-and-bottle lined space in 2007. The menu highlights local, artisan, and organic ingredients while taking inspiration from Spain, Portugal, Germany, and France to parallel a European wine list. There are cheese boards and charcuterie plates, a mix and match bruschetta bar (the roasted grapes, shallots, and goat cheese makes for a tasty combination), and entrees from stomach-fortifying drunken ribs with greens and mashed potatoes to eclectic fare like spinach gnocchi with Gorgonzola and walnut cream sauce. Recommended wine pairings accompany each item, but co-owner/sommelier Paula Maia is eager to field questions from behind the bar. Cliché desserts like crème brulee and flourless chocolate cake are more than well-executed. A fig tree drapes over the outdoor patio for grazing and tippling in warmer weather. — Daniel Benjamin

Drunken baby ribs, $16