The Leopard at Des Artistes by Vito Gnazzo and Gianfranco Sorrentino Holiday 2016 Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
We have to love you this much to assemble an outfit that matches your restaurant!
Owners Executive Chef Vito Gnazzo and Gianfranco Sorrentino with Peachy Deegan
Fresh Origins is America’s leading producer of Microgreens and Edible Flowers. Combining the benefits of an ideal climate with a deep passion for quality and innovation, Fresh Origins products are sought after by the finest restaurants and top chefs. The farm is located in the picturesque rolling hills of San Diego County, where the near perfect weather allows for production and harvest all year. Fresh Origins produces almost 400 Microgreens, Petitegreens, Edible Flowers, Shoots, Tiny Veggies™ and related items. Many are not available anywhere else, with new introductions nearly every month. Fresh Origins products are on top of the finest cuisine in the world! Fresh Origins supplies distributors of specialty produce who serve fine dining restaurants and resorts nationwide. There are also a few online sources of their products available to private chefs and home cooks. Read our first Culinary Queen interview with Kelly Sasuga:
For more information about Fresh Origins, visit their website at
If Santa was good to you this year, it's probably because you did not leave him milk and cookies and instead, left him
Halibut with baby artichoke and fingerling potatoes with a bottle of Italian wine...or you just took him to The Leopard at des Artistes yourself!
When this restaurant was three weeks old in 2011, we reviewed it:
and it was most recently reviewed this past summer:
There are not too many venues that we worked with five years ago that continue to impress us...and The Leopard earns the highest marks in quality of cuisine, consistency of excellence and sparkling hospitality of Gianfranco and Vito. They are the envy of many of their competitors.
We went on a day like today when it was freezing and so did not dive into their sublime Italian wine collection first. We had hot lemon water.
The aesthetics at The Leopard are off-the-charts excellent from the artwork to the bread basket that is artwork too but the edible kind, and probably have been since the venue opened nearly a century ago (but we are not that old and couldn't tell you for sure.) Read the history here and now we're getting excited to wonder if they will do anything for their centennial...
The salad earns points for being maroon and gold, Boston College colors.
The Leopard understand that cow cheese is highly superior to goat cheese, especially when it is ITALIAN. These are literally right out of the oven, and you can taste that in every bite of the oven-roasted red and yellow beets, with robiola cheese (from Italy) and baby Kale. If you are also pretty picky, they will gladly put the evoo and lemon dressing on the side. The fragrant scent is additionally enticing.
Arancini will greet you as their Italian amuse-bouche and definitely, do indulge.
An antipasti for the winter that will win you over - in Christmas colors- is the Eggplant "in tegamino" with caciocavallo Ragusano and stracciatella heart. It is a wonderful modern dish that concurrently pays homage to classic Italian style with a laudable flavor balance only the best achieve. It is high-end comfort food that you would enjoy at any age, and it will warm you up!
Delicate spheres of soft decadence happily coated in a rich, dark green await you in the primi course of Orecchiette with broccoli romanesco and cetara anchovy sauce. This dish spells elegance in pasta and sublime perfection in deliciousness. You know Vito is always coming up with the best pastas in New York look at what he did in the fall for Il Gattopardo:
If you ask us if we would like cheese, the answer is always yes please, precisely when it's done with intelligent precision like The Leopard, illustrated above.
If you are in for a more adventurous endeavor and imagine yourself to be Lady Mary (we miss the early seasons of Downton Abbey which were superior) on a hunt but it's not allowed in Central Park, you should know that Gianfranco got someone else to shoot the pheasant for you.
Meet the maltagliati with wild game and porcini mushroom ragu! Fragrant depths of carnivorous wonder is rugged yet also delicate. It is truly sensational and in a class by itself.
The Leopard is highly popular even at an earlier hour so we would encourage you to plan accordingly. We like to eat early and be first and noticed we had a lot of company! For those that are enamored of poisson (fish), for the Secondi opt for Halibut "in brodetto" with baby artichoke and fingerling potatoes. It's well-presented and a decadent choice of entree boasting all the freshness your little heart would desire. It is a lighter taste for winter.
The sauteed broccoli rabe with red pepper is a must and adds color and nutrition to your experience at The Leopard.
The Veal Chop alla Milanese is among the very best in the city, and it is a generous portion also.
This dish exemplifies magnificence in fine dining. An expertly pounded masterpiece of culinary achievement, this veal chop is sourced from an Italian butcher and is organic and grass-fed. You can taste that in its superlative freshness. The accompanying arugula salad is simple, organic, and perfect.
The salad enhances every bite of the tender veal that will make your holiday season sparkle even more!
The Leopard at des Artistes continues to be Highly Recommended by Whom You Know!
