IL Leone Opens in Park Slope | Eater NY

"Back in the city that raised him, Ben Wexler-Waite is serving naturally leavened, Neapolitan-style pies alongside antipasti like crispy pan-fried artichokes, saucy meatballs, and burrata with prosciutto di Parma. Ingredient devotion shows in the Margherita Del Leone ($24), with a sauce made from greenhouse-grown cherry tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala from Campania, and organic basil snipped from a live plant above the prep station. Do not miss the Isola, the famous, photogenic lobster pie (MP): Maine lobster scattered over hand-milled San Marzano tomato sauce with a generous drizzle of Italian white wine. The wine list is refreshingly accessible, with bottles in the $50s–$60s and glass pours around $15; the Aglianico ($18) tasted like briny black olives and pairs beautifully with the Calabrian salami pie ($22) or the one topped with pecorino and locally foraged mushrooms ($24). Cocktails lean Italian, including a martini made with Malfy gin or Vérita vodka. Blond wood and candlelight make this a shoe-in for date night, and my eye is on the back patio as a prime spring hang to share a couple pies and down a few Negronis with friends. The wine list leans heavily on Campanian producers; Wexler-Waite traveled Italy to seek out lesser-known winemakers and has visited most on the list, so ask for a recommendation to go with your pies." - Nat Belkov