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Mashing up local and global to great effect, Jacques Gautier’s laid-back “eclectic Latin” spot—carved from a former Pentecostal church on a Park Slope side street—offers an inspired, confident spin on classic Caribbean and South American recipes. Subtle rabbit escabeche, marinated in olive oil and vinegar and flecked with celery and fresh peas, swaps customary fish for cubed meat; whole sweet plantain, baked inside crackling peel, accompanies perfectly grilled bluefish over spicy purple cabbage. Thoughtfully selected wines, with reasonable markups, include rarely available selections from Uruguay and Mexico, along with hearty Argentineans and Chileans that match the assertive food. Palo Santo’s long, narrow space, designed by Gautier, is as idiosyncratic as his menu. A dark, casual front room and skylit dining room in back are connected by a glass-enclosed open kitchen overlooked by six privileged counter seats. Brooklyn artisans provided the twisty metalwork, gothic hanging-light fixtures, intricate wall mosaics, and a backyard rock garden with a burbling fountain. It’s all appreciated by a neighborhood crowd that gets younger and louder later. — Michael Kaminer

Rabbit escabeche, $14; chicken mole, $17; bluefish with plantain, $18