UWS Italian Restaurant Leonti Closes After 1 Year, Report Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Acclaimed Upper West Side Italian restaurant Leonti has closed after one year in business, according to reports.

The Adam Leonti-helmed eatery shut down following its Jan. 1 service, but the exact reason for the closure has not been confirmed, Eater New York first reported. During its short stint, the high-end eatery was hailed as one of the neighborhood's better restaurants.

Leonti opened in the former Dovetail spot on West 77th Street near Columbus Avenue in October 2018. The restaurant represented the long-delayed New York City arrival of chef Adam Leonti. The chef had signed on to helm a restaurant at Williamsburg's Hotel Harvey, but left in 2017 after a two-year delay of the opening. Leonti was then forced to work outside the county because of a non-compete clause before coming back to open his eponymous Upper West Side eatery.

The Italian restaurant showed no recent signs of closing. Its website makes no mention of the closure and shows that Leonti had offered a special six-course menu on New Year's Eve.

A request for comment sent to Leonti was not immediately returned.

The closure is sure to disappoint fine dining lovers on the Upper West Side. Dovetail, which occupied the space before Leonti, was a hit in the neighborhood. The restaurant closed in the summer of 2018 when chef John Fraser sold his stake in the restaurant to focus on other projects. Over the years, Dovetail amassed recognition including a Michelin Star and a three-star review in the New York Times.

Read the full Eater New York article here.