Armond Joseph is the Executive Chef at Léon 1909 on Shelter Island. We spoke with Armond about the restaurant’s concept, the influence of local ingredients, and the most rewarding parts of leading this kitchen.
What’s the guiding culinary philosophy at Léon 1909? What experience do you want guests to leave with?
The guiding culinary philosophy at Léon 1909 always starts with using the highest quality ingredients. That typically means sourcing what’s around us, from local farms, from the sea, and from our own garden. We take the best fish, vegetables, and meat we can find and prepare them in ways that are thoughtful and expressive, often over a wood-fire grill. On the menu, you’ll always find something familiar, but reimagined through the lens of the East End. We also use the seasons to guide our preservation work, so we can carry certain flavors forward and give them new life in a different time and context.
I don’t necessarily want guests to feel transported when they dine with us — I want them to feel completely grounded, like they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be. There’s a tendency in restaurants to create a sense of escape, and that has its place. But at Léon, we’re trying to create something different: a sense of presence, of belonging, and of Shelter Island itself.
How does the Shelter Island location influence your menu and overall dining concept?
There’s a calmness to Shelter Island that feels different from the other forks. It’s more intimate. If you’re coming to the restaurant for dinner and arriving by ferry, there’s already a subtle sense of adventure — the boat ride sets the tone. That moment of crossing over creates a feeling that something special is about to happen.
Whenever possible, we use the physical landscape of Shelter Island to shape the menu. Ingredients like sea beans, agretti, beach rose, beach peas, spruce, and magnolia all weave in and out of our dishes. They’re not just decorative; they’re harvested right here on the island. It’s another way we try to create a sense of place, not through storytelling, but through what’s actually on the plate.
What local farms, fisheries, or growers do you work with, particularly on the East End?
We work closely with several East End producers who really define what’s possible in our kitchen. Dock to Dish is one of our key partners, sourcing exceptionally high-quality seafood with a focus on Montauk and the Northeast. Their commitment to traceability and sustainable fishing practices aligns perfectly with our values.
We also source from Treiber Farms, a small certified organic farm on the North Fork. Their produce is incredibly thoughtful and vibrant. Another important partner is Balsam Farms, which provides us with everything from just-harvested vegetables to fresh-milled flours.
We’re proud to be hosting a James Beard Foundation benefit dinner on September 19 that will feature both Dock to Dish and Balsam Farms. It’s a chance to showcase not only the ingredients but the people and the stories behind them.
What dish are you most proud of at Léon 1909?
I’m always looking forward to the next dish, the next idea, the next season, but if I had to reflect on one in particular, I’d highlight our ember-roasted vegetables. It’s a dish composed of around sixteen vegetables and fruits, all cooked in different ways over the open hearth. Some are buried in the coals, others are hung for gentle smoke, and some are grilled quickly over high heat. The fire is started early in the morning, and throughout the day, we layer in ingredients, techniques, and timing.
The dish is always a direct representation of what’s happening on the farms. It was originally created out of necessity — small farms would often have just a few pounds of something beautiful, but not enough to run as a full feature. This dish allows us to say yes to those smaller harvests and create something that feels both abundant and fleeting.
What I love most about it is how clearly it marks the passage of time. The shift from spring to summer, or summer to fall, is right there on the plate.
What has been the most rewarding part of leading the kitchen?
The most rewarding part of leading the kitchen is the team. We’ve grown together over the years, and the relationships we’ve built run deep. We spend more time with each other than we do with our own families, and that creates a real sense of connection.
We’ve celebrated accomplishments together, faced failures together, and experienced both loss and joy side by side. The people are what make it all worth it. At the end of the day, the most rewarding part of the job isn’t the food, it’s the people behind it.
