Portuguese experience in New York. EUA

Pão is not just a Portuguese restaurant, it's a cultural mission. At least that's what Franco Coelho and Jorge Neves, the owners of this handsome little corner restaurant, would like Pão to be. “Portuguese culture has not been properly exposed in New York,” they say. Both where born in Portugal and came to the United States as a teen-ager. They opened Pão in 1996 several blocks west of SoHo, a neighborhood; it turns out, where Portuguese sailors boarded at the turn of the century. Already Pão's small bar has become an after-hours home to groups of Portuguese men and women and a big NY success. The owners, with the chef, Carmen Santos, they have dug into traditional Portuguese cuisine to put together a small menu that blends classic renditions with contemporary touches. Pão means bread, and the bread here, from the Portuguese bakeries in Newark, is wonderful, especially the broa de milho, a light brown roll made of wheat and corn. Appetizers include two wonderful soups. One is caldo verde, a potato broth with shredded kale, chunks of potato and slices of linguiça, the mild Portuguese sausage. Even better is what's whimsically called stone soup, filled with red beans and smoked meats, which give the broth a lingering smoky flavor. Grilled squid, in wide slices rather than rings, is light and full of flavor. It's served in a lemon-and-mustard sauce. A traditional dish, clams, cockles and shrimp, steamed in white wine and garlic and served in a polished copper cauldron, is great but maybe too salty for the Americans. Service is disarmingly casual. Try to ordered linguiça assada. The waiter will arrive with the linguiça in a plate, ignited the brandy with fire, placed the sausage over the flame and retreated. The sausage cooked, and cooked, and cooked, and is delicious. It will seemed charming rather than annoying, because the sausage is so tasty. Main courses include a traditional recipe are available: Bacalhau, another dish given a deft modern touch, sauteed salt cod that manages to suggest salt without being salty, served with onions and potatoes or the rabbit dish, with chestnuts in wine sauce. Desserts here are not to be missed. Pudding with port-and-prune sauce is wonderful, a light, egg pudding flavored with the rich, fruity but not overly sweet sauce or the rice pudding - fabulous - full of citrus, nutmeg and cinnamon. Tables are arranged in rows in the small, rectangular dining room, which can put people close together when it's crowded. Pão Restaurant is at the 322 Spring Street, at Greenwich Street, West Village, (212) 334-5464. A Portuguese experience not to be missed.