https://www.finedininglovers.com/article/joshua-skenes-interview-leopardo
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âWeâre going to open a burger joint and a chicken jointâthatâs all we know for sure. Weâre going to be doing things that I think are smart business decisions, but also, I want to eat burgers that donât have commodity beef. I want to eat chicken that is not commodity chicken. I think the idea was, like with pizza, that unless we can do this differently and at a higher quality level, then letâs not do it.â
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Excited to show up to his burger place not knowing If Iâm going to spend 35$ or 185$ on a burger.
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LOL may need to get pre-qualified by your lender to get a rezzie hereâŠ
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When I hear âcasualâ it goes hand in hand with accessible. Fine dining prices for casual food is wild. In this economy? As Biggie said things done changed
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casual is just a concept ultimately
thereâs luxury versions and executions of everything
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Leopardoâs prices are not comparable to Hayato, Providence, Vespertine, MĂ©lisse, Kato, or top sushi places. My meal a few weeks ago was $150 per person and a third of that was wine.
What Skenes said makes perfect sense to me: top quality without all the fancy trappings.
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IMO thatâs the core challenge with Leopardo (and to some extent Angler). Most diners correlate casual and fancy with price. Itâs much harder to evaluate quality without dining somewhere, and many times it can be difficult to identify high quality if youâre not really familiar with the components and techniques. Making someplace casual, but with price points that support high quality is a challenging concept to sell diners. You can talk sourcing and technique all you want, but Leopardo does little of that. Itâs also questionable whether many diners care that much (folks who frequent FTC being an exception). Also quality is not simply objective, at least in the way Josh Skenes talks about it in the article. It is subjective and a matter of personal taste. I think thatâs why we have such a wide variety of strong opinions on Leopardo.
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Iâm always attracted to the people who find quality to be objective. Or at least, when my version of objectivity lines up with theirs. Like a way to view and process reality
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I find it interesting how a strong consensus can form about things usually considered subjective, suggesting that there is some objective component to them. Music is a good example. You donât see many people arguing that Mendelssohn was just as good as Beethoven or The Kinks were just as good as The Beatles.
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As a cook, my experience has led me to consider quality of ingredients mostly objective. Some people have outlier personal opinions, but cooks who have had experience with a wide enough variety of ingredients will generally have a consensus about whatâs better, whatâs the best, and what stuff you have to leave the country to get a first-rate version of.
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Kinks were 100% better than the Beatles.
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My second Leopardo visit was 100% better than first. Loved it.
Pacing and food were all great.
Drink remain off the charts - unique and crazy wonderful tasting.
Loved the new lasagna. The steak was skimpy but delicious.
Pizza crust so much better too. The first pizza I had was so off-putting (taste and amount of crust) but now it tastes better and I get the concept.
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Not a crust person in the least, but this crust is wonderful as a vehicle for a variety of sauces here imo
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Ok I can officially no longer keep up with this thread.
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hold on to your hats they open at six (edit: moved back to 5:30 opening) now most nights, just pulled on the door like an idiot 
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Can you please post todayâs menu?
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Didnât take a pic
My best memory
Caviar and waffle set
Oysters and half lobster w/ tartare dressing (?) iâm blanking on this one
Add caviar option
Raw Bar
Oysters
Whole lobster cocktail
Halibut crudo *
Deer tartare and marrow, sourdough cracker *
Salads
Caesar
Cali-prese
Garden lettuces
Buffalo curds, peach mostarda *
Melon and culatello (86d by the time i ordered)
Oven
Lasagna
Tenderloin
Pizza
Margherita
Napoletana *
Salmon
Hello satan
Dessert
Both frozen soft cream
*what i ordered
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