My first attempt at solo dining resulted in total failure. Also something heavier: total breakdown of the self. I drove north to sit on the pier in Cayucos.
A man came along who asked how many cookbooks I’d read in my life.
“Hundreds of thousands if not tens of millions”
He handed me a cup and began pouring a bloody mary. The cup overflowed, covering my hands and down my arms, shirt and pants stained.
YOU FOOL THE CUP IS YOUR MIND
In that moment I lost attachment. The final desire, the desire to stop desiring, lifted.
This bench will do me for the rest of my days. I can sit here and rest.
A few minutes later I was flying down the road. As I dropped over the 154 into Santa Barbara I thought:
After dining at Pizzeria Mozza tonight, we retract the assertion that Leopardo is about on par with Pizzeria Mozza. Pizzeria Mozza remains as good as always but Leopardo is significantly better. Except for the wine list obviously.
Been lurking about this place for quite some time, but have quite literally never commented until now. This is, of course, a direct result of your magnificent review.
Truly hope you continue these surreal, almost fableist restaurant reviews. Wonderful post. Thank you for sharing.
my favorite thing about eating alone is you just have to sit there. full meal at a bus stop kinda deal. i’ve done a fair bit of waiting in my life. patient and impatient. still so much where the hell, what the hell.
that’s the cool thing about taking ridiculous bites, stuffing your face. all you can focus on is chewing and breathing. mess one of those up and you better hope no one sees you. my incentive spirometer was in the shop so i walked over to Leopardo and ordered a bone-in ny strip.
first greens and chardonnay. core on the fork kicked my ass, that was my okay i’m out to dinner moment. chewed a collection of mint leaves, washed the masticate with wine.
a pour of rhum jm terroir volcanique at intermission. all together morphed into charred lemons.
then i sat with the strip, immediate bite of fat to play back with the rhum. i worked through the radicchio and needed more … or … how about … croutons. yeah, croutons.
ice cream-stuffed wild blackberry hand pie and a walk home.
Great sadness that the soft serve machine was down last night. The other half of the cocktail menu is I like the bloody mary more than the separate shot and chaser, although it is pretty salty. Glad we tried the caviar waffle, and I appreciate that you can get the waffle by itself now ($20). Coursing and pacing was excellent even with our larger and more complicated group. They seem to be making adjustments from the early days.
All the seafood dishes and re-marinara were my highlights. Didn’t find the lord’s water too intense or salty, so I think they’ve tuned it a bit. Crudo is still one of my favorites. Caviar is delicious, but I can’t see myself paying the price of admission. I thought I would like the deer tartare on the cracker more, but I might have preferred the original machete! Caesar looks beautiful, but is a little unwieldy to eat or share with a larger group because of the whole leaves and chunky/crusty crouton.
i loved my copy of Aesop’s Fables as a kid 
there’s some kōan action in there too. I hope to read your reviews soon
I like the bloody mary more than the separate shot and chaser, although it is pretty salty. Glad we tried the caviar waffle, and I appreciate that you can get the waffle by itself now ($20). Coursing and pacing was excellent even with our larger and more complicated group. They seem to be making adjustments from the early days.
