Dial down the wattage, please. Leonard, whose resum includes work at Cyrano's Bistrot, Biggs and the Sutton Place Hotel, prepares contemporary French dishes with style and whimsy. Meals start, for instance, with a complimentary amuse from the kitchen, perhaps tiny profiteroles stuffed with mushroom duxelle, or hollowed cucumber cups filled with smoked salmon and cayenne-seasoned cream cheese. Soups and salads dominate the first-course options. Soups range from a silky smooth lobster bisque with a dollop of cr me fraiche to a lively chilled gazpacho with a distinct spicy undercurrent.
Salads are uncommonly pretty.
One creation presents matchsticks of turnip nestled in endive leaves, surrounding a disk of creamy chevre topped with red oak lettuce bound by strips of roasted beet. Leonard really ratchets up the artistry for his entrees. Beef tenderloin arrives with an intriguing tart of lobster meat and savory lemon mousse, along with fava beans and a sturdy port wine sauce. The same port wine sauce nicely supports grilled pork tenderloin, which is wrapped into a roulade with spinach, crabmeat and papaya. Seared swordfish is presented on its edge, so the triangular steak points upward like a shark's fin.