The Leopard at des Artistes

Awesome!

A hidden gem! I came in here for restaurant week brunch and wasn’t expecting much so I was super blown away by the food, service and the place itself. Really cozy feel and elegant place. Service was attentive but not in a lowkey-giving-my-waiter-the-sideeye-cause-i-can’t-converse-with-my-friends kind of way.
I LOVED the ricotta berry pancakes, the smoked swordfish salad was a new one but totally delish and the chickpea soup was savory and totally hit the spot. My shakshuka (it was labeled something else) came and while it was great my eggs were fully cooked so that was a bit of a bummer. However i decided to get fancy and have the chocolate eggplant mousse (how daring of me) and it was REALLY DELICIOUS. I’m not a dessert type of gal but i love chocolate and it’s VERY hard to impress me with a mousse and they did. and it even had a miscellaneous vegetable just thrown into the mix.
I was impressed. I would seriously come back again.

My boyfriend and I went to the The Leopard to celebrate his 25^th birthday. The staff and service were excellent. The murals on the wall are just so beautiful and unlike many other restaurants in NYC. The service was definitely a step above most other establishments. The food was delicious! A nice wine selection too. We will definitely be back for more special occasions!

Went for the restaurant week brunch and the menu had northern Italian fare. I started off with the smoked trout that was fresh and full of flavour, however I was slightly disappointed by the radicchio rigatoni and the dessert (Bonet Semifreddo), both dishes were just about average, I wish they had made the restaurant week menu a little more interesting! Will definitely give the place another go on a regular non restaurant week day.

We went to Leopard on a weekend in the evening for their restaurant week special. We were greeted promptly at check in and they took our jackets — they don’t give you a coat check ticket and they remember your face, which is cool.
The restaurant is very pretty inside. The tables in the front are standard, but in the back by the bar they’re sectioned off in little alcoves, which give you privacy from other diners but makes for a close situation with the other table in the alcove with you.
I ordered a glass of champagne and then we ordered our meal. We got:
APPETIZERS:
Smoked trout — This was served with green apples and radicchio. The smoked trout itself was nice, but the whole dish had a sour component that made it hard to consume. I think that this could have benefitted from less radicchio and perhaps another ingredient? We did not finish this dish.
Bresaola and caprino cheese «bocconcini» — VERY interesting dish, did not look like I would have expected at all. Bresaola stuffed to look like little flowers with a soft cheese that almost reminded me of a cross between a goat cheese and a refreshing tzatziki. The pickled vegetables with this were delicious. Dining partner did not like this, I loved it.
ENTREES:
Risotto — This was a nicely prepared risotto dish with sage and butter, topped with toasted almonds and served in a butternut squash sauce. This was perfectly cooked and hearty. We liked it.
Branzino — A nice piece of fish served in a very light, fresh tomato sauce with thinly sliced small potatoes and some olives. We finished this one quickly.
DESSERTS:
«Bonet» semifreddo — Recommended by our server. This was alright. Extremely chocolatey.
Hot canederli — Little Italian style «dumplings» stuffed with apricot and served with a little flavorful apricot yogurt ice cream on the side. Interesting dish. Desserts were OK overall.
We would come back to try the main menu. The place were this restaurant was lacking a little was with the service. Our server never came to check on us after we received our dishes and he took away my champagne glass without offering me another drink. Additionally, at the end, he dropped our check off without asking us if we wanted anything else. While he was knowledgable about the dishes and was nice in general, it felt like we were being rushed out and the normal nice touches of premium dining weren’t hitting the mark.
All in all, a nice meal that we did not regret.

Absolutely fantastic upscale Italian restaurant. It’s a bit of a hidden gem — which is fine by me because I love not having to fight for a table here (cough cough the smith & boulud sud cough cough). The Leopard is a great choice for pre– and post-​show and also when you’re in the mood for a great plate of pasta.
I’m obsessed with the rigatoni a la norma here — the eggplant and ricotta are perfection, although every dish here is great, including surprisingly good french fries and a delicious dessert menu.
The décor is classy and the service is impeccable. Coming here feels like escaping the hustle and bustle of the New York restaurant scene. Highly recommend for anyone in the area.

Lovely ambience (although the music was off during the dinner time), service was excellent, and food made almost to perfection!

Lovely, sweet, food great, service great, live in NYC, feel like you ate on vacation. Only reason not five stars, I went for brunch, which was delicious, but not the best food. But beyond, lovely.

THE RUDEST RESTAURANT SERVICE EVER!!!
This restaurant has very very rude customer service!!!
6 of us went there to enjoy restaurant week dinner and they basically were try to rush us IN A RUDEST WAY.
When we went they were not fully booked. Yes, we were kind of big group but there was still big tables available whole the time we were there. Waitperson tries to take the dish away immediately, they brought check right away, come to pick up our check 3times within 10min, gave us little souvenir (cookie) for us and try to get our check which we haven’t even touched yet.
Ok. These facts are already bad impressions, but I won’t call that the rudest.
They brought our jackets and costs out from coat check which we didn’t ask. Basically telling us to leave and that is RUDE!!!
I’ve never experienced such a thing! What did we do to deserve this kind of service? We were shocked.
So one of us asked reception person before exit, if there was another reservations, so that we were rushed out.
Receptionist told her «there is no reservations, but we saw you had your bags and purses ready so we brought your coats out. You are more than welcome to stay» she said we already up n out so we will just leave.
OF COURSE our bags are in our hands cuz we need to pay the bills!
ON TOP OF THIS RUDE SERVICE, WHAT HE SAID WAS OUTRAGEOUSLY SUPER RUDE!
He said to her «Well your party stayed 2hours and 20minutes, and we normally can have 2 tables with that time»
EXCUSE ME!!!
First of all, you do not say such a things to the customer! How can you say such things???
Second of all, sorry but we were late for our reservations about 15−20mins so we only stayed maybe little less 2hours!!! And that we believe is not too long to enjoy the nice dinner… unless it is fast food restaurants!!!
Whole experience totally ruined the reputation of the restaurant. We will never ever go back. We will share the story how poorly we were treated.
I’m actually feeling sorry for the chefs since food was good.

Very good Italian… the prune dessert was amazing! I would take it with a needle if I could.

We dined here on Thursday before seeing Seinfeld at the Beacon Theatre — it’s a pleasant 20 minute walk to the theatre from the restaurant. This restaurant is also incredibly convenient to Lincoln Center. The ambiance in the restaurant is very warm. I would definitely recommend reservations as the restaurant fills up fast!
My biggest compliment to this restaurant was the service. I cannot believe how attentive the wait staff was during our meal for the pricepoint! I dropped a knife off the table at one point and within about 10 seconds it was replaced. We received great recommendations on the food from our waiter, and our glasses were never empty!
All of our food was incredibly delicious and thoughtful. For the quality of food at this restaurant, I would have happily paid twice the amount. Everything we ate here was balanced in flavor and texture. I loved that there was always something «crispy» on the plate. We had the «Gnudi» appetizer which was three large ricotta gnocci accompanied by a field mushroom ragu. I don’t like mushrooms and I thought these were outstanding! We split a pasta course (they split it for us in the kitchen which was awesome), the «Ziti alla Norcina.» With its homemade sausage, it was also fantastic. For our main courses, I had the lamb and my boyfriend had the duck. Both were beautifully plated and tasted just as good as they looked! For dessert, we had the nutella chocolate mousse and the cannoli. They did not disappoint, perfect end to our meal. From beginning to end, the meal was perfect!
Not your mama’s Italian restaurant! Every dish was «different» from something we’re used to ordering, and I would 100% come back here again! It’s a meal we are still talking about.
(included complimentary rice balls at beginning of meal and generous bread basket as well as biscotti/​cookies during our coffee at the end of the meal)
Gnudi Appetizer
Ziti Alla Norcina Pasta course split
Lamb entrée
Duck entrée
Nutella Mousse Dessert
Cannoli Dessert
(2) Espresso
(1) Glass of wine ($ 24)
(1) Soda
Bill: $ 230 before tip

Growing up in New York I have dined in most of the City’s finest restaurants. For some reason, however, I never made it to des Artistes. We went last night for the first time and it was really one of the best nights out in a long time. The entire staff and management is laser focused on dining and service. And the food… Wonderful. Will be back for sure. I wish more restaurants were run in such a manner as The Leopard. The only reason for taking one star away is the lack of reasonable prices for wine by the glass.

Update: I came again for brunch with some friends and it was more of a 3 star experience the second time round. It was Sunday at midday and the place was almost empty. I think we made a mistake with ordering as well — stay away from burgers etc. (bland, unimpressive) and stick to the Italian food, which is what they do best.
We came for Saturday brunch and I absolutely loved it. I honestly can’t stop talking about it.
The food was fantastic — started with bread and great quality oil, then I had the carbonara which was cooked and seasoned to perfection — just the right bite to the pasta, rich but not too rich, with wonderful tasting cheese. My husband had something which was sort of like an Italian croque monseuir — toasted rustic bread with melted buffalo mozzarella and Parma ham with a side of tomatoes and red onions which were in this great oil and garlic dressing. Everything tasted SO GOOD. Fresh and simple good quality ingredients put together really well. We also had a couple of mimosas each which tasted amazing (proper champagne and fresh juice, not sugary rubbish). We were too full for dessert but they gave complementary mini fresh cookies which is always such a nice touch.
Service was great and the atmosphere was perfect, quite posh but still relaxed and welcoming.
The final happy surprise was the price. Entrees and drinks were around $ 14, $ 5 less than most overpriced chains in the area charge.
I cannot wait to go back for brunch again and for dinner. Can’t speak highly enough, the food actually put a big smile on my face for the rest of the afternoon.

Went to this fancy brunch spot a few months back with RW. It was real yummy!
The portions are smallish, but quite rich. The burger was divine and the fries were perfectly seasoned. I had the tuna tartar, which was super fresh and incredible. We also split a pancake w/​Nutella crème — this broke the rule of small portions, as it was ginormous and holy-​hell level delicious.
The desserts were nice, especially the sponge cake w/​cherry compote, but nothing mind blowing.
The hostess when we walked in was strangely snotty, but the waiter was pretty good. All the waitstaff wear short white lab coats, which as a medical student I found very amusing.
Overall, it was a very good meal and would be a nice place to take your nana before checking out a museum or on your way back from church, but is probably not the best place for a relaxed hangover-​relieving brunchy brunch.

We ordered a bottle of wine and the tasting menu.
Couple things may have happened here. 1.) we just returned from three weeks in Italy. 2.) due to wisdom tooth extraction I am currently eating on the right side of my mouth. 3.) I can’t come up with any more excuses.
Say it isn’t so! A place that boasts itself as a true Italian restaurant, like from Italy and the pasta was terrible. Seriously! What happened?
Unilocal folks you have let us down. Ok it is only this one time but why does this place have 4 stars?
The good? Awesome Italian wine and great selection. The dessert was fantastic. Italian donuts kind of like beignets served with chocolate espresso gelato. Yum! And uh, yeah, good espresso.
The bad? Food lacked flavor.
The ugly? The inconsistently cooked pasta. Some bites of ziti were al dente, others chewy. We ordered the ziti with sausage and black truffle. Basically a bowl of pasta with a very tiny amount of sausage and what truffle? I had one in my dish. And they didn’t taste right.
Takeaway, if you go, sit at the bar. Order wine and dessert.
Must say, service was exceptional! 5 stars! Our waiter was attentive, friendly and knew his wines. Appetizer of octopus was good but missing something. The ricotta gnocchi appetizer was the best food of the night outside the dessert.
If I could I would give 2 ½ stars but the Unilocal system rounds it up to 3.

My friend took me there tonight for a Birthday celebration. The service is top notch. The food is as good as it gets. The dessert was truly special. Get the ravioli. The Nutella chocolate mousse and you can bring your own wine on Sunday and no corkage. It is very expensive but worth every penny.

Classy restaurant with DELICIOUS food and excellent service.
Everything we ate was amazing (see pictures below). They start you off with a gigantamous basket of bread.
Appetizer: «Gnudi» — ricotta gnocchi in a white sauce, topped with spinach
Entrees: Pappardelle with lamb (on their specials for the night)
Vegetarian options available and I highly recommend the ravioli with artichoke and burrata cheese in a tomato sauce.
Dessert: Profitteroli with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Unlike other high end restaurants in the city that bring out just a pinch of dessert (where you find yourself asking — is that it?!), this place gives you a huge portion that can easily be shared.
Food and service were both great, but the ambiance is slightly dull/​boring/​serious — maybe that was because we were here on a weekday evening. It might be more lively on the weekends.
This place is perfect for a family dinner with your grandparents or even a business meeting. But may not be the best idea for a first date.

We came here for restaurant week brunch. It was the first time since they changed ownership from the old Café Des Artistes. We usually ate at the bar, which has changed a little, but was very lively.
It was a pleasant surprise to see my old friend Henry from a now closed Flatiron restaurant has been promoted to maitre d’ at the Leopard. I saw some other familiar faces on the floor and felt immediately at home for a flawless and eminently enjoyable meal.
Make sure you don’t fill up on the bread basket, as tempting as that might be. The long skinny breadsticks will encourage you to drink your face off.
I had the cinnamon french toast with panna cotta and limoncello soaked berries before eggs in purgatory. My husband had a green salad and the burger. We shared a semifredo of Sangiovese grape dessert wine.
The french toast was light as air, and the eggs were perfectly poached in tomato sauce in a cast iron skillet with a piece of bread to get every last bite. The fries with the burger were awesome, even more so dipped in the eggs’ tomato sauce. The burger was perfectly medium rare on a brioche bun with caramelized onions.
We started with mimosas and moved on to martinis, and the drinks were great. Service flowed, and I must congratulate them on an ace team from FOH to the kitchen. The dining room was busy, but it never felt hectic or crowded. This is a restaurant at the top of its game.

I came here again for Sunday brunch during Restaurant Week. DEFINITELY make a reservation! This place is BUSY, and rightly so. Brunch was absolutely amazing.
COFFEE/​DRINKS: They serve you an entire carafe of coffee when you order a cup — that is amazing. They also have a full wine menu, not just your usual crappy house champagne or mimosa.
APPETIZER: My husband ordered the swordfish carpaccio with blood orange. Holy cow, he absolutely loved it.
MAIN COURSE: I ordered the traditional eggs benedict and it was perfectly done with an excellent hollandaise sauce and thinly sliced prosciutto. My husband enjoyed eggs in a skillet with a cherry tomato reduction.
DESSERT: Here is where you SHOULD NOT skimp! Normally, I’m not a big dessert person, especially for breakfast, but I am SOOOO glad I tried dessert. I ordered the NUTELLA MOUSSE WITH HAZELNUT CRUNCH AND BANANA GELATO. WOW!!! It was absolutely heavenly! I want to come back to the The Leopard just to get this dessert again. It’s perfectly cold and moist with a crunchy base and the banana gelato somehow goes perfectly. Do yourself a favor and splurge on this ridiculously good dessert.

We were not looking good forward to prepping and hosting a Thanksgiving meal, so we decided to forgo the shopping, the logistics, the cooking, and the cleaning and just headed down to the Leopard for an easy holiday experience.
The dining room is as beautiful and as comfortable as ever. The Leopard js a very charming place to have a meal, in particular if you have alot of people in your party. Every table feels spacious and there’s no crowding like you see at many Manhattan restaurants.
Service was refined as always and the staff was very helpful to us as well, going out of their way to ensure that we were well situated and that the kids were taken care of. The staff was also genuinely sweet with the little ones, stopping by to play or give them a quick word.
I haven’t been at Des Artistes since we moved out of the city, and my last memories of the food were very positive. This time around, I liked a few of the dishes but also had a few reservations about the quality and the presentation of others.
We got quite a few items off the menu and I got to try the butternut squash and ricotta ravioli, the Thanksgiving turkey plate, the vegetable platter, the beet salad, and the bucatini with sardines.
Service was fast. Everything was served promptly but immediately I noticed that a few of the dishes looked a bit «Mom-​ish», basically like thoughtless plops of food were dropped on the plate. Not a huge deal of course, but when your paying $ 30 for turkey and stuffing it would have been nice to see something a bit more refined.
As for the quality, I thought the pastas were very well done. The bucatini was great, with very strong sardine and fennel flavors in every bite. I’d imagine this dish is not for everyone because it was quite pungent but damn it was good. I also thought the ravioli was excellent though a tad too sweet for my taste. I get that’s it’s an autumny/​holiday dish but it was still a little too sugary especially with the candied pecans.
On the negative side, the vegetable platter stunk to high heaven. They stated in the menu that it came with Sicilian chick pea fritters, but there was just one on the plate. FritterS means multiple pieces not 1 little itty bitty one. Since this was the only decent item on the plate it was a major downer. Also, the rest of the veg was unremarkable, just sauteed, basic greens and what seems to be steamed carrots. My one year old like that, but not me. Oh yeah, the fennel was drastically undercooked. All in all, at $ 29, this was an overpriced and unsatisfactory disaster. The Thanksgiving plate was also a mess. Plating was amateurish and the turkey was dry. You guys make the Thanksgiving meal 1 day a year and you can’t get it to be moist? Jesus. Dry turkey, eww.
Needless to say when I got my $ 200 check I was a bit displeased. That’s a lotta cash for a very hit and miss meal. But hey, it’s the holiday season. Gotta keep it merry!