Leonelli Taberna in NoMad Is a New Hot Spot

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Charlene Giannetti in Dining Around

NoMad, the Manhattan neighborhood north of Madison Park, is fast becoming a popular destination for dining. New places keep popping up. One that should be on everyone’s list is Leonelli Taberna located on East 27th Street in the newly renovated Evelyn Hotel. As the website says, Chef Jonathan Benno and his team “meld old New York” with “Old-World Italy.” It’s a winning combination.

The restaurant was lively when we arrived at 9:30 on a weekday night. There were few seats available at either the bar or in the attractive dining room. But we reserved in advance and nabbed a corner table giving us a perfect view of the activities, including in the glassed-in kitchen.

Service was impeccable. We ordered drinks and studied the menu. Rather than bread, we were served a small pizza with tomato sauce. A perfect start.

We decided to share two pastas: cappellacci, cauliflower ravioli with butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, and black truffle (top); and, spaghetti with Sicilian oregano, lemon, fennel pollen, and scallion (above). These were two very rich dishes, but well prepared so that each ingredient stood out. 

Two meat dishes – beef and pork meatballs and salumi with prosciutto, paté, liver terrine and testa – were enjoyed with a chopped salad. 

For a light dessert, we opted for blood orange sorbet with mint meringue. 

We are already planning our return.

Leonelli Taberna
7 East 27th Street
212-451-9495

About Charlene Giannetti (692 Articles)
Charlene Giannetti, editor of Woman Around Town, is the recipient of seven awards from the New York Press Club for articles that have appeared on the website. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Charlene began her career working for a newspaper in Pennsylvania, then wrote for several publications in Washington covering environment and energy policy. In New York, she was an editor at Business Week magazine and her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. She is the author of 13 non-fiction books, eight for parents of young adolescents written with Margaret Sagarese, including "The Roller-Coaster Years," "Cliques," and "Boy Crazy." She and Margaret have been keynote speakers at many events and have appeared on the Today Show, CBS Morning, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and many others. Her last book, "The Plantations of Virginia," written with Jai Williams, was published by Globe Pequot Press in February, 2017. Her podcast, WAT-CAST, interviewing men and women making news, is available on Soundcloud and on iTunes. She is one of the producers for the film "Life After You," focusing on the opioid/heroin crisis that had its premiere at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, where it won two awards. The film is now available to view on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and other services. Charlene and her husband live in Manhattan.

© 2017 Woman Around Town. All Rights Reserved.