NYC's The LEOPARD on the west side is intimate but iffy Italian (3-31-25)

 For years Cafe Des Artistes was a hot spot at West 67th St & Central Park West. We loved to head there before going to Lincoln Center but it began to go sour and closed some time ago. The East Side's IL GOTTOPARDO took over and reopened it as THE LEOPARD (English for Gottopardo, also an important figure in Sicilian 19th century history--and I met his son several years back in Palermo, but that's another story). We met some friends for dinner there last night before the opera, and of course, the east and west side confusing names sent them to the east side location instead...but they quickly traversed Central Park and we sat down to a very nice and tasty, if expensive, meal. It was much less than our East Side dining experience at Casa Cruz, but nowhere near the deal at Osteria al Doge at Times Square the night prior! Starters tended to be 20$+ and mains were in the $40+ zone but we found a superb Vernaccia di San Gimignano from Panizzi 2022 in the $60-range and really loved it, especially since the temps had warmed up to 70...only to fall into the 40's overnight.

An okay arancini with prosciutto (I could not find any) arrived and when we said Sam was a vegetarian, they must have thought very hard before bringing out a small chunk of parmesan cheese with a nut and some honey on it! 

I started with a superb Vitello Tonnato made with thinly sliced veal in tuna sauce, caperberries and a lemon vinaigrette while others loved the Burrata Salad. 

The mains fared less successful with my Pasta (Torre Annunziata) Mista Con Capesante having very little sauce and desperately calling for seasoning. The Osso Buco came with a huge risotto which was declared was too salty. The Pasta with Beef ragu did fare better and our son seemed to loved his gnocchi.

We had to rush to the opera, so no dessert and a might come back, but probably not with so many options around this area....