Prespa (CLOSED)

You may have walked by Prespa on your way to work and never thought to pop in—it blends into the background in a ’hood already burdened with too many generic places to eat. Well, keep on walking. Though a chef with a decent résumé runs this Mediterranean joint (Jean-Georges alum Richard Farnabe) and the place is attractive enough, with plush banquettes and a soaring chandelier, it was dead on a recent visit. Grainy hummus with cardboard pita, undercooked scampi with risotto mush and stringy steak with nearly raw sweet-potato fries make it clear that it’s the food, not the setting, that’s at fault.