First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

Leonetta is Chef Ed Cotton’s new restaurant, located in Murray Hill, where the old Brother Jimmy’s used to be located.

Ed Cotton was on Top Chef season 7, and he also heads up the kitchen at Jack & Charlie’s as well, which os one of my favorite places to eat.

My wife and I came here after the new year to run through the menu. Here’s what we tried:

Grilled Octopus Salad

This was a warm salad that ate almost like a salsa. The octopus was cooked perfectly.

Lamb Tartare

This was one of our favorites of the night. The lamb was super tender, and the added items really made it pop, especially the pomegranate seeds.

Tuna Puttanesca

This was my favorite of the three “raw bar” items that we started with. The Kalamata olive and raw tuna combination was divine.

Next we moved on to a pasta dish made with tiny rigatoni and lamb ragout.

The stewed/braised lamb was really delicious. My only critique here would be to make the chic peas fried crispy for some added texture.

We did some charred broccolini on the side here, which was the best broccolini I’ve ever had. Great char, cooked perfectly, wonderful bright flavors.

For our mains, we started with the 14oz strip steak with zataar-seasoned steak fries and harissa ketchup.

This was cooked perfectly. Although there was no dry-aging involved, the flavor still popped due to the seasonings. This is an easy 8/10.

We also tried the fried pork shank shawarma with pickles and zataar-spiced pita bread.

This dish was a home run. The exterior was fried to an amazing crisp. The skin crackled as you cut it.

The meat was cooked perfectly, and paired well with the street-style red and white sauces, like you might see at a halal falafel, lamb, chicken and rice cart.

On the side, we did some roasted mushrooms, which were absolutely delicious. Ed always nails the mushroom offerings.

For dessert, we tried the special panna cotta.

This was topped with orange caramelized pistachios. I absolutely loved it, but it did have a thicker than expected texture. Almost thicker than Labneh or Greek yogurt.

The cocktails here are amazing, so don’t miss the opportunity to go downstairs to Leo’s Famous, their beautiful lounge with a fireplace, for a night cap.

I can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu.

LEONETTA
181 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10016