It may be the dead of night for downtown developers, but the restaurant at one undersubscribed condo development is providing a stunning culinary awakening.

Eos (``new dawn''), the inspired Mediterranean at the Icon Brickell's Viceroy Hotel, is the work of executive chef Michael Psilakis and restaurateur Donatella Arpaia, whose Midas touch has brought New Yorkers such golden hearths as Kefi, Mia Dona and Anthos, one of only two Michelin-starred Greek restaurants in the world.

The complex's dark, Easter Island-inspired columns may be more eerie than awe-inspiring, but the 15th-floor restaurant is a shimmeringly beautiful marriage of Aegean opulence and tropical elegance. Chandeliers constructed of dozens of marble plates look as if they might be flung across the room at any moment. And the views! -- Biscayne Bay and downtown skyline as far as the eye can see.

As beautiful as it is, the seats are oddly erect and tiny, as though designed for Barbie dolls instead of actual people. But real people are exactly what you find, noon and night, enjoying the lusty flavors with hearty laughs and tinkling glasses. This is a fun restaurant with serious food.

It's best to start with the signature crudi of exquisite fresh fish (and occasionally meat). Subtle flavors of grouper, snapper, tuna, uni and ebi (shrimp) coaxed by fresh cantaloupe, mango, papaya, guava, pomegranate and peppers display the best of this intuitive chef's talents. Pristine flavors emerge from a simple piece of niaragi (orange marlin) dotted with apricot purée and mastic, a pistachio-tree resin from the island of Chios. Or so our Argentine waiter tried to explain.

The nattily dressed bilingual waiters are definitely more comfortable in their native tongue, but all are enthusiastic and eager to please, if not fully knowledgeable. Is it too much to expect that mine would know buckwheat is gluten-free or that serving a wine three vintages younger than ordered without checking first is not OK?

Highlighting ingredients from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco and his native Greece, Psilakis offers a modern expression of peasant cuisine. His gift lies in combining just the right number of ingredients and making them shine by balancing flavors, textures, colors, heat and flavor.

Some of the best dishes we tried were deeply infused with rosemary and garlic and slapped on the grill until charred -- gorgeously seared rack of lamb, flat-iron steak and a whole loup de mer (sea bass), for example, stuffed with herbs and briny olives.

In the tradition of Greek meze, little plates work well for sharing, including the Aristotelian ideal of a Caesar salad with shaved, aged Parmiggiano and a hint of anchovy, poached asparagus dressed with tiny grapefruit smiles and crispy bacon and lanky ropes of smoked octopus dotted with tangy-sweet pineapple and spicy sopressata.

Greek ``paella'' -- rice-shaped pasta packed with meaty shrimp, mussels, clams and octopus -- is a homey and satisfying plate, at once bracing and comforting. So, too, a gorgeous tagliatelle sauced at the table with a poached egg and black truffles.

The wine list is petite, with only 30 or so bottles including sakes, sherries and champagnes, but offers excellent and affordable matches including an outstanding young, white Kourtakis from Crete for just $36 that was as crisp as any sauvignon blanc.

Though underplayed on the menu, the sweet side of the kitchen may be even more impressive than the savory. What is described simply as tropical fruit cannoli is a pair of cigar-sized, canary-yellow tubes of dried pineapple pressed as thin as parchment and filled with tart cream and coconut tapioca accented with basil seeds.

The whole package -- service, decor, food, wine -- adds up to a brand new day for diners on Brickell.