THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Leonti

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Leonti Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant & décor: Chef Adam Leonti cooked with the esteemed chef Marc Vetri in Philadelphia for many years. In New York, he has opened an elegant restaurant on the Upper West Side, his first. Walking into Leonti feels like stepping back in time, perhaps to a glorified mid-century Milan, which is the inspiration for the restaurant. The dark, marble entrance makes way to a dining room lit with gold chandeliers, with spacious tables covered in linens and lamps. There’s also a 12-seat bar and a private dining room.

Likes: Chicken in pastella; lasagna; elegant dining room.
Dislikes: Expensive price-tag; squab.

Food & Drinks: Leonti himself bakes the excellent house durum-wheat focaccia and sourdough, made with fresh flour from the restaurant’s own mill, which also produces the raw ingredients for the pasta and pastries. It’ll be hard to save some room for the rest of the meal, but it’s strongly advised. Start with the antipasti plate, which includes anchovies served on Parmesan cracker, and foie gras and chicken liver on toast. The chicken in pastella, fried and finished with a complex sweet-tart agrodolce glaze, is light and crispy, served with preserved-lemon rind and a puntarelle salad. The decadent lasagna arrives layered with Roman-style artichokes, béchamel, mint, and more artichoke on top. Skip the roasted squab dressed with bitter pomegranate sauce and a disappointingly soggy pastry. For dessert, there’s rich olive oil peperoncino gelato and a Marsala pot, a smooth custard made with sweet wine and torched on top for a shattering exterior. The extensive wine list features more than 2,000 bottles.