The Chef Comeback You Didn't See Coming
Newbie Piatti welcomes a great Laguna legend.
Editor’s Note:
Last Thursday, my VIP Insiders got the early scoop: one of Laguna’s most beloved (and ridiculously talented) chefs just quietly stepped back into the local foodie spotlight.
Today, I’m opening the curtain for everyone else. Here’s the full story – and if you’d rather be first in line next time (easier reservations before everyone else knows + ballyhooing rights), it’s easy to join my Best of Laguna VIP crew (monthly or annual – your call). Check it out here:
P.S. Chef Leo will be my featured radio show guest next Monday, June 23rd, at KXFM 104.7, 2 pm PDT! Tune in the local dial or stream from anywhere in the world at KXFMRadio.org.
Fresh from opening yet another success story in Lower Manhattan’s SoHo, Chef Leandro (Leo) is back in Laguna Beach. As of this past Monday, he has stepped in as the Consulting Chef to our newest gleaming star, Piatti at 222 Ocean Avenue (next to the Marine Room).
Chef asked me to join him at Piatti last Wednesday evening, and I scuttled there with great alacrity as he promised me a few “tastes” of the magnificence he’s helping shape there. Since Piatti opened less than two weeks ago, it’s been packed nightly with happy, chatty clientele … and – as far as I’m concerned – they’re in for a lot more happy with Chef Leo in that immaculate Piatti kitchen.
”We’re so excited to have Chef Leandro with us right now as a culinary consultant,” Piatti Director of Restaurant Operations Farnoush Deylamian told me. “He’s such a beloved local talent, and we’re already loving working with him.”
Sure enough, Chef was at his finest last Wednesday night, offering me hearty “tastes” of his famed daily-baked Focaccia bread, the Linguine di Mare with manila clams, squid and fennel leek sofrito, Piatti’s famed Bolognese sauce that he chose to serve up on creamy, buttery polenta, and another hearty “taste” of his Cioppino, crammed with prawns, clams, mussels and cod. The seared garlicky toast points that he’s known for throughout the land perched precariously on the bowl’s edge. It was heaven.
The uber-talented chef who made his name in multiple countries and won awards all over L.A., chose our town in September 2018 when he became the resident chef of the ultra-exclusive Hotel Joaquin.
After years of award-winning accolades there, Chef Leo moved into more of the Laguna local public eye in July 2023 when he took over ALL of the restaurants that had suddenly shifted from the Laguna Beach Company to an involved investor group, MOM CA, LLC. Just days before the Festival of Arts opened its doors, Chef Leo was given the green light to go to work. He brought in dear friend and fellow-Argentinian Chef Maro Molteni to help him craft new menus and train staff (in four days) for The Festival’s 250-seat Terra, the Intermission counter restaurant there, the wine and beer stands throughout the Festival grounds, seven 7 seven’s restaurant across the street at the Laguna Art A Fair, the many scheduled private events at the 7 [seven-degrees] venue next to the Sawdust Art Festival AND Larsen’s at Hotel Laguna.
The two worked together to handle ALL of these F&B concepts through the entire summer and early fall of 2023. Chef Leo then opened the immediately popular Tango on Forest Avenue, moved briefly to consult at 237 Ocean Avenue, and was then spirited away to New York City for a much-ballyhooed restaurant that needed his guidance to and through its opening.
Known for his start-up skills at high-level restaurants everywhere, Chef Leo is in high demand. As we chatted together this week, he reminded me of Mary Poppins lofting in with magic, guidance and inventive creativity, but only promising to “stay until the wind changes.” It is my fervent hope that we can talk Chef into staying with us indefinitely.
But while our Poppins chef warms up our Laguna world again, be sure to make tracks to Piatti to welcome Chef Leo back and bask in his kindness as he welcomes you to the restaurant he seems perfectly suited for – the restaurant family that chose Laguna Beach with hopes of becoming a loved neighborhood favorite. Piatti is well on its way.