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“Joseph Leonard”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	West Village	Moderate	Good

In the tiny restroom at Joseph Leonard, you reach for handtowels inside an old-fashioned medicine cabinet and find glass apothecary jars filled with the comforts of home:  Q-Tips, Altoids, baby powder. Gabriel Stulman, the owner of this small hybrid bar-restaurant, wants you to feel welcome, to feel happy here, a part of his world. And Joseph Leonard succeeds in being its own world, but there is a tension there between curated hominess and true comfort. 

Stulman was an opening partner in The Little Owl and Market Table (he remains a partner in the latter), and he clearly knows his audience.  The décor is aspirational West Village – pressed tin ceiling, hand-picked antiques, fashionable crowd. The cocktail list offers appealing twists on the classics, and the accessibly priced menu reflects a seasonal bent on comfort food and bistro classics. One thing is clear:  the food and drinks here are served with real affection for the customer.

The chef, James McDuffee, who honed his skills at Bouchon Bakery, turns out food that shines best in the simpler things, but veers off course a bit with the showier numbers. McDuffee’s past turns up gorgeously in the flaky crust of a roasted mushroom and gruyere tart ($10). A lovely dish served with peppery arugula and parmesan shavings, this would be a heavenly lunch, perfect for nibbling as you sat looking out the corner windows to the West Village streets.You could spend a delicious evening sitting at the long bar with a cold Rye Tea - rye whisky, iced tea and fresh lemon ($10), a beer  -Leinenkugel’s! so close to my Midwestern heart – ($6), and a plate of the rustic duck rillete:  a dollop of spicy mustard on flavorful cured, cooked and deboned duck on thin toasts ($11).

Other good drink partners are the rough and peppery country pate ($9) or a tasty and nicely charred octopus curled on top of white beans, olives and celery ($12). Drinking seems to be the order of the day here with a hefty and accommodating wine list (and a great list of wines by the glass that range from $8 to $13).We sat at the bar to eat. (I love to sit at the bar. It’s such an intimate way to share a meal, close together but not looking straight at each other while you chew. A good way to be close in a crowd.) And here the zinc bar is the restaurant’s heart, centering the space and holding up Mason jars full of mint, lemon, cherries, cornichons, and olives. ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 20, 2009

Other restaurants in West Village :
+ Jefferson-- Closed   + La Palapa Rockola   + Sumile   + Babbo   + Tasca   + AOC Bedford   + Home   + The Spotted Pig   + Barbuto   + Numero 26   + Mas   + August   + Alta   + Cru   + Blue Mill Tavern-- Closed   + Employees Only   + Lassi   + Metropol--Closed   + Turks and Frogs   + Bellavitae   + Yumcha-- CLOSED   + Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO   + Perry Street   + Home   + Ditch Plains   + The Little Owl   + Cafe Condesa   + Cafe Cluny   + Gusto   + The Waverly Inn   + Morandi   + P*ONG   + Perilla   + Soto   + Market Table   + Centro Vinoteca   + Barfry   + Dell'Anima   + Bar Blanc   + Smith's   + Commerce   + Elettaria   + Bar Q   + Cabrito   + 10 Downing   + Minetta Tavern   + Braeburn   + Scuderia, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Bar Blanc Bistro by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Joseph Leonard   + Bar Henry, by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Kin Shop   + Monument Lane   + Wong   + Bin on Bleecker, by Dara Pollak   + Ristorante Rafele   + Cole's Greenwich Village by Guest Reviewer Claire Jaffe   

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