New York

When far from home, there's nothing more comforting than a surrogate mom -- someone who'll feed you and tell you you're handsome even as her own son withers in neglect somewhere in Queens. Get the grub part, at A Casa Fox, opening tomorrow.

An invitingly-banqueted, fireplaced LES sleeve, ACF's the first restaurant from a gourmet Latin catering maven: NYC-born / Nicaraguan-descended Melissa Fox (real name, not pourne identity). By day, ACF's a wi-fi'd up chill-eria serving a daily-changing selection of homemade fare like risotto croquettes w/ serrano ham, soups, and eight varieties of her signature empanadas -- which in Central America trump Hot Pockets as the prokaryote of all deliciousness. By night, ACF's table service, plating small bites and clay pot dinners like carne chorizada (beef stew), camarones a la brazas (fire-grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon), and costillas de cerdo: ribs marinated 24hrs and slowly braised in their own juices, for lightly crispy outsides and insides so tender, they cried at the end of Field of Dreams.

ACF's BYOB until their license comes through, so for now they'll hook you up with spikeable homemade mojito and sangria mixes, suggesting ACF's run by the coolest mom of all: the one who only cares that your hair is combed as she ignores your abject inebriation.