Leonessa — Restaurant in Yarmouth

Admittedly, it's rare that I would give 5 stars accross the board. But in this case, absolutley deserving. Upon entering Leonessa the vibe was very upbeat, sophisticated yet warm and welcoming. The Host, Richard, was friendly and promptly led us to our table in the upstairs dining room. I was initially hesitant being seated in this space fearing we would be forgotten. Boy was I wrong! The upstairs space was most pleasant and soon had it's own upbeat vibe and accompanying happy buzz. Our server, Dennis, was a polished professional. Very attentive, friendly and knowledgable. He was always at our table at just the right time throughout our enjoyable leisurely dinner. He offered well informed, polite and encouraging entree suggestions with a clear understanding of the the entire menu. I am generally not one to ask "what's good or what do you recommend" but in this case I was open to hearing his thoughts. He somehow knew what we all wanted! And I loved hearing there were no 'Specials" which I soon learned were not necessary as the entire menu is special. Food and Drink: Our party of 4 began with wine, spritzers and amazing craft cocktails. That happily led us into the Antipasto, Formaggi and Charcuterie. Abundant and most satisfying. Main courses included: Hand Rolled Strozzapreti (beef and veal ragu with wild mushrooms), Atlantic Haddock Alla Milanese (with crispy shrimp and creamed yukon) and Grilled Atlantic Salmon (Carrot Sformato + Charred Snap Peas + Piccata Sauce) Throughout dinner, the conversation switched to "this is delicous, you need to try this, WOW and this is amazing". It was that good. The Finish: Cannoli and Liquid Dessert. Legit Espresso Martini's and for me, Espresso and Grappa dessert cocktail. Perfection. Leonessa is not to be missed. Owner Chef Diego and his kitchen team have it figured out. Owner Taylor, Front of the House team, also have it...

Was there last Friday; first time for everyone in our party of 6 locals. Food was fine, save for the creme brulee, which was much more like a pannacotta than a cb (as least as we know creme brulee). Dining atmosphere was LOUD; service too SLOW (two hours for one drink, an entree, and dessert?). My wife, who uses hearing aids, gave up trying to talk with me, as did the rest of our party who largely gave up trying to talk with each other. Normal conversation impossible, once our section of the dining area filled up. But…the worst of it was when my daughter came to retrieve her car from the valet. First, it was claimed they couldn’t find her keys (somehow magically appeared subsequently). Then, the car wouldn’t start because the battery was dead; someone in the valet staff forgot to shut the car off—it’s a Prius, it’s a quirk of that car that can befall anyone (happened to me), stuff happens, understandable. A call to someone in Dennis eventually produced a set of jumpers (seemed odd to me that the valet service didn’t have an emergency battery pack…most do) and the attendant proceeded to attempt to jump start the car without heeding my daughter’s specific instructions as to how to jump start a Prius. It’s different because the car ain’t your father’s Buick, and she has had to jump start the thing a few times herself. So she was fully aware of the right way vs the wrong way contrary to the attendant whose macho attitude was unacceptable. She finally intervened, got the car started sans serious damage, and was on her way home…after spending nearly an hour standing around waiting for her car to arrive and “engaging” with someone who was clueless. This sad tale is likely, one hopes, to be a one-off and I wish the owners well. But we...

At the outset let me say this review contains the good,the bad,and the ugly. I will start out with the good. From the time we arrived at Leonessa, the service was top notch. From the valet, to the hostess, to the wait staff I can only say excellent. Atmosphere again the Resturant was clean, tastefully decorated, and very comfortable. Now let me get to the food. It’s was obvious from the start that the kitchen was only staffed with chefs who cared about the plates that they were turning out to the guests. The dinner salad my wife and I ordered was fresh, very flavorful, and a true pleasure to look at when it was set before me. Our appetizer was the polenta fries again was carefully prepared, a pleasure to look at, and very enjoyable to eat. Now let me get to the bad, I ordered the “Leonessa’sOwn Steak Au Poivre” A 16 oz Prime NY Sirloin. Again carefully prepared with much thought, unfortunately this cut of meat did not garner the $62 price tag not including the side dish of broccolini. Please do not misunderstand, my complaint is not with the price. We have no problem spending $250.00 for dinner for 2. Unfortunately from the 1st bite this cut of meat was like chewing tire rubber. I hoped that as I continued to cut farther into the steak the tenderness would improve, but that was not the case. My other complaint is that the steak was ordered medium rare, and came blood rare. The preparation was very flavorful, but it simply wasn’t the fork drop moment I was hoping for. The broccolini again was flavorful, thoughtfully prepared, but very tough to chew, not what I would call crisp. All in all I will dine here again but unfortunately will not be ordering the steak. If you have read this...