Leone Cafe, Las Vegas

Leone Cafe is an all day cafe in Las Vegas, open continuously from 7am until 9pm daily.  I think they mostly focus on breakfast, as the menu has a slew of egg dishes (all the benedicts, egg sandwiches, omelets, scrambles, skillets, etc), along with crepes, pancakes, french toast, and waffles.  They also do have standard cafe style lunch dishes of salads, sandwiches, paninis, and burgers, plus ... pizza and pasta too.  So sorta all over the place, menu wise.  

Equally extensive is the baked goods and desserts lineup.  Multiple kinds of cookies, danishes, croissants, puffs, and twists.  Tarts (apple, mixed fruit, banana, chocolate, pecan, key lime, raspberry almond), cheesecakes (blueberry, strawberry, Oreo), Italian desserts (cannoli, tiramisu, napoleon), French (eclairs, chocolate mousse), and gelato.  On the drink side, they also have a smoothie bar, barista espresso drinks, wine, and a few cocktails.  The full menu seems available all day long.

"A traditional Italian coffee shop located in Tivoli Village Summerlin. Come dine with us for baked goods and specialty homemade breakfasts."

The cafe is located in Tivoli Village, however I did not visit in person, so I can't comment on the setting itself, as I opted for delivery.  I focused on the pastry and dessert side of things.  I wasn't really sure, without seeing the place, if they operate their own bakery, but given the vastness of the menu on all dimensions, it seemed unlikely.  Still, I had a bit of hope as reviews in general for the baked goods seem decent.

Large Delivery.

So, what I ordered?

• Pina colada (alcoholic).  
• Pistachio tiramisu.  
• Side of berries.

What I got?

• Pina colada (non-alcoholic).
• Bonus! Strawberry daiquiri (non-alcoholic)  
• Pistachio tiramisu.  
• Bonus! Cannoli.
• Bonus! Fruit tart.
• Side of berries.

Yes, I ordered one dessert, one alcoholic drink, and a side, and got 3 desserts, 2 (non-alcoholic) drinks, and side.  I was quite shocked when this feast was delivered!

The cafe did call me soon after my order was placed to tell me they could not actually do the alcoholic drink for takeout.  They apologized, and said they weren't sure how it got on the DoorDash menu.  They removed it (and other alcoholic drinks) immediately from the delivery menu.  The staff member who called offered to send me both the pina colada AND the daiquiri in non-alcoholic form instead.  I said that was fine.  So those I did actually expect both of those, but what I didn't expect was the other bonus box of treats!  While it was slightly overwhelming to suddenly find myself buried in desserts, I wasn't exactly upset with this turn of events.

Strawberry Daiquiri & Pina Colada (non-alcoholic). $8 each.

Starting with the now virgin drinks.

Oh, DoorDash.  My Dasher picked these up at 4:33pm. They got delivered to me at 5:59pm.  Yes, basically, 1.5 hours later.  It was 90* in Las Vegas that day.

Let's just say, if these were once blended slushy drinks, they certainly no longer were.  You can see the separation in the pina colada in particular.  Sigh.  So, slushy, refreshing, icy drinks these were not.

But ... I'll admit, they were both very tasty, although very sweet.  The cafe has a large smoothie menu (in addition to all their cocktails), so I think they actually do make these all with real ingredients, not just mixes.  The daiquiri was fruity, sweet, and I think would have been really enjoyable in slushy form.  I kinda used it as a berry sauce to drizzle over things the next few days. The pina colada was less strong flavor-wise, but had decent coconut undertones.

Both had this super thick whipped cream on top, definitely not the kind out of a spray can.  It was fantastic.  I used some of it on top of my other desserts and that was fabulous.

So, these were good even in their totally melted and separated from, I think they would have been very good fresh.  ***.

Side of Berries. $4. ($4.50 Doordash)

The fruit was fresh and vibrant.  Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.  It wasn't the most flavorful, but it seemed very fresh.  For Vegas prices, this was a remarkable deal.  ***+.

Pistachio Tiramisu. $6.50. ($9.36 DoorDash).

The one dessert I ordered: pistachio tiramisu.  

I wasn't entirely sure what the pistachio tiramisu would be, as that is not a commonly found item, but a few photos I saw showed a layered parfait style cup.  So I thought it was likely a pistachio mousse/cream/pudding, with some bits of pistachio for crunch, and likely a pistachio cake layer soaked in spirits of some kind?  Very on-trend with the Dubai chocolate craze inspiring pistachio everything everywhere.

The form matched my expectations, but the contents were not quite what I thought.  This was my bad, but I didn't expect espresso in this, even though it was a play on tiramisu.  I eagerly dug in, at 8pm, and instantly tasted ... yup, espresso.  Doh.  I avoid all caffeine at night, even chocolate.  So, sadly, I could not enjoy this as planned, which made the bonus unplanned items actually work out really well.  I just saved this for after lunch the next day!

Anyway, the main component, the pistachio cream, was fine, although a bit ... gloopy?  The pistachio flavor was decent though.  And of course, the espresso soaked layer, which was nicely soaked.

There were tons of bits of chopped pistachio on top which gave great crunch and tons of pistachio flavor, and the little swirl of thick whipped cream was most welcome.  Eh to the little hunk of ladyfinger garnish, but that is just my own preference.

I think this was a well composed parfait, with good textures at play, and plated in a way it ate well, but I didn't really enjoy the flavor combo of pistachio and coffee, they felt like competing flavors to me.  Perhaps that is just me.  I added fresh blackberries to it and that added a nice freshness.

So, interesting, but I wouldn't get again.  ***.

Cannoli. $6.50. ($8.64 Doordash).

"Crispy pastry shell filled with sweet ricotta cream, chocolate chips, and a dusting of powdered sugar."

I ... don't really care for cannoli.  Even from the most famous bakery in the US for them (Mike's Pastry).  They are "fine", but not something I'd ever pick, even when super fresh, filled to order, etc.  So this random cannoli that was definitely not freshly made from a cafe with huge pastry and dessert lineup?  I was not really interested, but of course I had to try it.  I hate waste!

It was not very good.  The filling was really, really strangely goopy.  I don't have a better word for it.  Just ... goopy.  Minimal chocolate chips within.  No real strong ricotta or cream cheese or identifiable flavor, just, sweetened goop.  The shell was a bit soft, and mostly uninteresting.  The powdered sugar dusting helped give it any flavor.

Overall, not compelling, and I don't think even someone who actually likes cannoli would be excited for this.  **.

Again though, I hate waste, so I actually took out the filling, and used the cannoli shell as a cone for gelato the next day (it was soft enough that I could re-roll it tight!) and used the filling spread on crackers with strawberries as a snack.

Strawberry Puff? $6.50. ($9.36 Doordash).

I'm not entirely sure what this other bonus item was, as I didn't order it, nor see any reviews of anything similar.  But it was a puff pastry, topped with custard, and fresh strawberries.  Perhaps the "strawberry puff" from their menu?  It was ok, not great.

The strawberries were really ripe, fresh, not mushy, etc.  Perhaps applied to order?  Or at least sliced fresh that day.  The custard was fine, thick, rich, pretty standard but good custard, akin to what you sometimes find inside a donut.

Strawberry Puff?

The puff pastry base was fairly generic puff pastry.  Not particularly buttery or special, sorta seemed like the kind of puff pastry you can buy in a tube at the grocery store.  It wasn't bad, and seemed fresh enough, but it just wasn't anything above grocery store quality.  Not bakery quality.  Low *** overall, as it did seem like something I could have put together in my own kitchen.