The prime burger at The Office in Delray Beach. (Allen Eyestone / The Post)

There’s a tendency to equate timelessness to greatness in the restaurant biz. We think eateries that have survived for years and years, offering the same culinary experience ad infinitum, are paradigms of success by that mere fact alone. Call it the triumph of frozen food — as in frozen in time.

But I’d argue that cuisine is very much about the here and now and that a smart restaurateur tries to capture the spirit of today on a plate. And that makes David Manero perhaps the smartest restaurateur in South Florida.

Consider Manero’s latest venture, The Office in Delray Beach. At a time when local restaurateurs are increasingly emphasizing a certain big-city vibe at the places they open, Manero has fashioned the most urban (and urbane) eatery to establish itself in these parts in years, smartly situated in a downtown strip — Atlantic Avenue — that itself has come to represent true city slickness in our part of the world.

Moreover, Manero has done it with a reasonably priced menu that speaks to the best of what chefs are doing these days: giving casual bar-friendly food a sophisticated, upscale makeover and turning grazing (or the "little plates" concept) into an art form. Throw in kicky cocktail and craft beer menus — again, very au courant ideas — and you have even more reasons to make The Office your hangout spot of choice.

Are you beginning to tell I really like this place?

And I liked it from the moment I walked into The Office. The conceit is you’re indeed entering someone’s home library or "office" — note the books lined on the walls. But it’s as if that office has been transformed into a cross between a speakeasy and psychedelic lounge, thanks to interior designer Lynn Manero (David’s wife) and her eclectic taste in everything from flooring to furnishing (love the red chairs). A final deft touch: The long bar faces two ways, so you can be seated at it inside the restaurant or on the street. It’s as if the The Office is literally woven into the cosmopolitan fabric of Atlantic Avenue.

And by all means, do grab a seat at the bar, where the vibe is lively without being frenetic. Then, settle in for a first-rate refresher. If you go the cocktail route — make that the "handcrafted" cocktail route — you’ll enjoy the best of modern mixology, where spirits of all kinds are mixed and matched in inventive ways with fresh-squeezed juices and sweet and savory flavorings. Take the Lavender Side Car ($14), a beguiling blend of cognac, orange liqueur and lavender honey syrup. Or, even better, the Water Cooler ($14), one of a wave of thirst-quenching cucumber-flavored cocktails I’ve seen of late, only this one adds subtle notes of herbaceous flavor to the mix, courtesy of Plymouth gin, lemon and dill.

Of course, there’s beer, too — more than 25 selections on draft ($5.50 to $7.75), from the "Crisp & Clean" (say, Kronenbourg from France) to the "Drunken Monks" offerings of Belgian-style beers, including two made-in-Florida selections. And if you’re still thirsting for more, the wine list is plentiful and relatively interesting (especially if you like American offerings), though a tad overpriced.

On to the food. The genius of the grazing, gastro-pub concept that Manero is championing here is that it gives you so many ways to approach a meal, whether you want little bites in lots of stages or a more traditionally structured three-course meal. I opted for the former and was not disappointed with a single item.

Much of the menu is devoted to contemporary variations on bar or comfort-food classics. So, you’ve got Buffalo wings, only here they’re the Asian/Caribbean-inspired and thoroughly addictive Hot & Sour Chicken Drumettes ($13.50). And you’ve got nachos, only here they’re House-Smoked Kingfish Nachos ($12) — individual portions of the perfect Florida dip served atop crispy chips.

And you’ve got pork and beans, too — but here the dish is cheekily put in quotations, as in "Pork and Beans" ($13). That’s because the pork is Niman Ranch pork belly — fatty and delicious. And the beans are toothsome, oversized butter beans. The result: a down-home side dish transformed into a soulfully clever main dish.

And speaking of main dishes, you can have your pick of a few of those — steaks, short ribs, fish of the day and more, priced from $18 to $35. But something tells me Manero is providing options just for those who can’t enjoy a restaurant meal without having an "entrée." As for me, I’d rather much make a meal out of his out-of-this-world Prime CEO Burger. Yes, it’s a $15 burger, but it’s a two-handed affair of juicy chopped prime, topped with sweet onion and tomato confit, two full-flavored cheeses (Maytag bleu and Gruyere) and thickly cut bacon. This isn’t a burger; it’s a culinary revelation in sandwich form, paired with the crispiest shoestring fries I’ve run across in a while.

And there’s at least one more revelation to come if you’ve saved room for dessert. I’m speaking of the bacon-flavored donuts ($9) — a sweet-and-salty affair that makes more sense than it sounds (think pancakes and bacon converted into a cruller). If that’s a little too daring for you, a safer (but still hardly traditional) meal-ender can be had with the chocolate-y oversized red-velvet cupcake ($9).

I admit I was worried about how The Office would fare in the service department, since busy and style-conscious restaurants of this sort are known to forsake customers almost as a point of smug pride. But that’s hardly the case here. The well-trained staff knows its way around the menu and tends to almost all the details throughout the course of the meal — except perhaps for seeing to it that water and wine glasses are refilled in a timely manner. That said, I wasn’t wild about the fact that the hostess misjudged the wait time for a table — 15 minutes turned into about 30 (the restaurant doesn’t accept reservations).

But I’d gladly wait an hour or more at a restaurant of this caliber. By its very trendy nature, perhaps The Office might not be as hot and happening a couple of years from now. But its currency is also what makes it so appealing. Enjoy while you can.

R E V I E W

The Office

FOOD: A

SERVICE: A-

ADDRESS: 201 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach

TELEPHONE: (561) 276-3600

WEB SITE: theofficedelray.com

PRICE RANGE: Moderate to expensive

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., daily

CREDIT CARDS: AmEx, Visa, MC, Disc

RESERVATIONS: Not accepted

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes, including restrooms

WHAT THE GRADES

MEAN:

A