Out On the Town: Leo
Pizza or Steak au Poivre? How about both?
Out On the Town: Leo
Thanks to everyone for helping celebrate the 2-year anniversary of LAST CALL last Thursday, especially all the DAY ONE subscribers who renewed their membership for yet another year of spirited dispatches, and to all of the readers who were inspired to upgrade to an annual subscription. Here’s to Year 3!
When I woke up early Friday morning to start tackling my to-do list, I was already thinking about the dinner that evening I had arranged for myself at Leo, the popular corner pizzeria and adjoining cafe and slice shop just down the block from The Four Horsemen on Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg, known for their naturally fermented pizza and natural wine list.
Opened in December 2019 by Mike Fadem, the owner of Ops in Bushwick, and Joey Scalabrino, the former chef there, Leo makes some of the best pizza in New York, but also packs so many bangers among the non-pizza offerings on the menu—Butter Beans with Cabbage, Meatballs, a trio of classic pastas (All’amatriciana, Bolognese, Cacio e Pepe), a Half-Chicken with Calabrian Chiles and Lentils—that you’ll be debating what to order up until the last possible moment you need to commit.
One big difference from the wood-fired pies at Ops is that Leo instead mimics the hearth-style pizza with a precision Pizza Master-brand electric oven. And after R&D-ing making his own bagels at pop-ups at the pizza shop and and off-site collaborations, Joey Scalabrino also opened Apollo Bagels in the East Village last March and the lines show no sign of dying down anytime soon.
While I was already thinking about the Clam Pie I planned to order at Leo, topped with Clams, Cream, Garlic, Chili, Parsley, and Pecorino, it was a recent mention of the current seasonal soft-serve swirl offering of Black Cherry and Mascarpone that truly lured me back in. I often visit Leo with my dear friend David Lebovitz whenever he’s back in New York from Paris and we have a tradition of skipping sharing two smaller themed pizza offerings for the oversized, 18-inch NY Slice Pie, whose base of Mozzarella, Provolone, Garlic, Oregano, Chili, and Pecorino makes it the perfect platform for add-on toppings (we always get pepperoni and sometimes half anchovies for me) and guarantees at least a few leftover slices for me to take back home.
I posted up at the bar at Leo as soon as they opened for business on Friday and ordered a Happy Hour pilsner on draft while I skimmed the menu. I had been thinking about that Clam Pie but my vision of a perfectly charred clam-topped pizza became a bit blurry when I saw the Hanger Steak au Poivre and Fries calling out to me from the menu. Lately this steak set seems to be popping up more and more at some of the spots I frequent but I rarely order it. But in a game-time decision I benched the Clam Pie in favor of this mildly more celebratory dish. While it may have lacked the celebratory grandeur of the Porterhouse for Two at Keens, the humble cut seemed like the perfect solo diner dish for a Friday evening out on the town and delivered on all fronts. When I later asked Joey how this French-inspired steak set earned a permanent spot on a pizza-centric menu, he explained it was the result of frequent trips to France over the past fews. “We enjoyed making it and eating it, so we thought it would be a good fit on the menu,” he says.