lento

i ate at lento once, about a week ago. the staff was overall friendly, but the waitress my wife and i dealt with had to run to the kitchen to ask if could take a vegetable off the dish i wanted. that seems odd to me. if you work there, you think they'd know what can and can't be done. and if everything is made fresh, how could the answer be no? thefoodwas ok, but surely not worth the prices. there are many better choices out there for the cost.

great food!. this was such a great place. amazingfoodall from local farmers. love the atmosphere. definitely will continue to come back!

we walked into lento tonight without a reservation...expecting a very long wait. we were pleasantly surprised tone seated right away. our waiter, beau, was excellent!! very knowledgeable, friendly and had perfect timing. the restaurant became very busy but we never felt rushed. we will definitely be going back. the farm to tablefoodwas excellent. we decided to share a few appetizers, oysters, soup and salad. my only regret was we weren't hungrier!! there were several dishes on the menu that looked very interesting, one more reason to go back again.

what a fantastic birthday experience! fresh, local, sustainable. this is an up-and-coming gem. the service was impeccable. thefoodwas fantastic, a blend of inspiring flavors and textures. we started with the duck fat frites and the foie gras appetizers. the foie was a melt-in-the-mouth experience. the only con to this dish was the chestnut-like garnish on top. they were difficult to chew, and overshadowed the delicate texture of the foie gras. but the appetizer was amazing, nonetheless. the duck fat frites were divine, and served with an accompanying creamy version of aioli sauce. we then enjoyed two salads. the beet and goat cheese salad had a tangy vinaigrette, while the gorgonzola and pear salad had fantastic flavor. we brought our own wine, a 2009 duckhorn cabernet; there is a $15 corking fee (no fee on wednesdays). the pear salad's flavor was even more pronounced with our wine, and was a perfect combo. my husband had the duck breast as an entree, while i enjoyed the strip steak. they were perfectly cooked as requested (medium rare). locally produced meats are amazing! and the bacon fat purée of potatoes with the strip steak can only be described as divine. for dessert, my husband had the homemade coffee ice cream. a must try! the culminating experience for me was my dessert: chocolate pot de creme. our chef wrote happy birthday in the cocoa powder on the plate below the dessert: a thoughtful, beautifully artistic touch! the first bite of this dessert transported me back to france, where as an exchange student i first tried chocolate mousse. pot de creme has the texture of a creme brûlée and pudding. divine. the chef gave us complimentary digestifs for my birthday... much appreciated! after a bottle of wine, i was unable to identify it... but tasted a lot like creme de cassis... or a super sweet port.
take this restaurant seriously, folks. it was not only the perfect birthday dinner, it provided my husband and i a level of ambiance we don't often enjoy with 4 young children at home. lento is definitely on our list of date night restaurants, and clearly seems to embrace and glorify the local and sustainable movement.

goodfoodpricey. thefoodis very good with a creative approach. portions are small which is ok but the prices are on the high side. can not figure out why there would be a $2.00 up charge for an extra dry tanqueray martini. three dollars for a cup of tea is pricey. service was very good but the restaurant was not very full on a saturday night @ 6:30. that indicates a problem.

bar...none. i went to lento to try to get some quality seafood and enjoy a drink at the bar. i sat at the bar which only had three other patrons at it. after being ignored for 5 minutes the bartender finally took my drink order but never offered a menu. after a few more minutes i managed to get his attention and request a menu.

i finished my drink as the other bar patrons were paying there bill, the bartender asked if i'd like another drink. i said that i did and that i'd like to order some food. i asked if they had oysters rockefellar, and he said they the had a version of it, i also asked about the calamari, which he said was 'amazing'. i ordered 2 shrimp cocktail, 2 oysters rockefellar and 2 on the 1/2 shell along with the calamari.

i watched as my oysters were shucked and then put in a toaster oven for a minute and then added some onion bits. not exactly oysters rockefellar. i was served myfoodand still hadn't received the second drink i ordered.

i finished myfoodand was awaiting the calamari and requested a drink yet again, which never came. i did receive the calamari, which seems to have been sitting under a heat lamp as the breading was slimy and soggy. i tried to eat it but when i tried to get some with my fork the whole bowl full of calamari lifted out of the bowl and resembled a cold calamari meatball or a slimy bowl of cold oatmeal. i kinda lost my appetite after that.

many of my friends have had a great experience there, maybe it was the bartender who was not as concerned the customers as he was with polishing glasses and playing with his phone. then again, he didn't have anything to do with the food, which was repulsive.

hopefully a manger reads this and gets things right before it gets any worse.

lento?. i went to lento with my friend this past weekend, and it was easily one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had. we did not have a reservation, but they were able to seat us. apparently they were doing us a favor as we were then rushed through our meal though there were always tables available, and though there did not seem to be vast numbers of people waiting to be seated. we received our main course about 5 minutes after we ordered it ,although we had ordered cocktails. my friend was asked repeatedly throughout dinner by the busboy, while she was visibly chewing and had a forfkul offoodmidway to her mouth, whether she was done with her meal. dessert came hard on the heals of dinner, and the check came while we were eating dessert.

i guess i might have overlooked the rush had thefoodnot been some of the worst i've ever eaten. i ordered tofu, which some might view as the problem, but it can be good and flavorful if prepared well. the chef who prepared this should not be makingfoodfor people. it was truly inedible, and though i barely touched it no one inquired whether there was a problem with the dish. the dessert was supposed to be a chocolate nut tart. i don't know if the name of the dish was meant to be some form of sarcasm, but there were no nuts in the tart or nut flavor.

i will certainly not go back here or recommend it to anyone.

expensive but worth it. love the ever changing menu. unique items and lots of vegetarian choices.foodis cooked slow which is where the name lento came from, so don't be in a hurry! the bread they bring to table while you wait forfoodis really yummy .

can be hit or miss .. like it but ... so, here is the deal .. i like lento, i do .. i love the service, the bartender makes one of the smoothest dirty martini's i have ever had .. i love the atmosphere, etc … etc … but .. thefoodis hit or miss. case in point .. last visit with two others, my entrée (scallops with risotto) was excellent; the taste was sophisticated and fresh .. however, very pricey. the next entrée (brined chicken) was good; taste was nice and complimented the side nicely .. good but still up there in price. the last was a lobster salad (not an entrée but ordered as one), this i am afraid was tragic. we were ok with the limited lobster, but the field greens were that of a very small side salad and mostly stems. in addition, there were so many red onions, that the entire salad tasted like an onion. it really should have been light and fresh .. instead, it was strong and very disappointing. i can only hope that they look at their price points and try to balance the entrée's out a bit more. i understand that this would be a huge challenge as the menu changes daily. i am sure i will go again, but always proceed with caution.

not good. went here with my parents and thefoodwas overpriced and really bad. would not recommend it. burgers are a joke.

ditto yuk!!. really badfoodand service,save your time and money go else where,

vegan? skip lento.. quick breakdown for you compassionate eaters out there: ambience - poor. price - ridiculous.food- substandard. service - really good, actually. recommendation - save yourself two hours and 56 bucks by making a plate of pbj sandwiches.

lento bills several of its dishes as vegan. while this may certainly be true of the ingredients, one of the key ingredients of great compassionate cuisine is missing -namely, taste.

for some time, my girlfriend and i had been hearing rave reviews about lento from veg*ns and omnivores alike, and wanted to try it for some time. after several months of procrastinating, we finally made it out to the village gate. personally, i think urbanspoon should throw lento out of its "vegetarian" category altogether so that other hapless veg*ns don't make the same mistake as i and drop sixty bucks (with tip) on substandard food. while i appreciate the chef's intentions -- which i assume to be a menu inclusive of all dietary choices -- i would prefer that he/she stick to preparing things that taste good, and not simply make a "best effort" at veganfoodto mollify the compassionate eaters of rochester.

the restaurant was way too noisy, and thefoodwas way too expensive to taste so very bad. by way of comparison, the blossoming lotus in portland, or charges roughly twenty dollars less for the same meal (two appetizers and two entrees) for astoundingly larger portions of way better food. it is largely an insult to veg*ns to put the word "vegan" on the menu just so we have "something" to eat. we want more than just something to eat.

we want something good to eat.

skip lento. drive the two hours to syracuse and eat at strong hearts cafe. you still make out ahead even with the cost of gas.

speechless!. i am simply speechless after another lovely experience at lento last night. let me break it all down so your mouth can water...

we started at the bar with some fresh squeezed and muddled cocktails that were an absolute delight on a warm day. then once we got to our table we enjoyed the chef's boudin which is pate in a sausage style with some extremely fresh oysters and an appetizer of the best grape leaves i have ever tasted.

for entrees we shared their grilled chicken with ricotta and apricot gnocchi, mushrooms and sauteed greens. whatever sauce they used was a perfect compliment to the grilled meat. we also enjoyed the vegetarian crepes stuffed with potatoes, ricotta and spinach which came with a delightfully spicy picalilli sauce.

the creativity and twists on classics makes this restaurant outstanding. the service was perfectly paced and pleasant. we love to support local people and products and find lento to be the best way to do so.

it is a true surprise for rochester to have such unparalleled dining.


-----13 dec, 2008-----

fresh and local. i have had the opportunity to eat at lento many times and have never been dissatisfied. all of thefoodis made from scratch, with mostly local ingredients, both of which are important to me when dining out. i also need to mention here that they have the best cocktails in town, certainly a hidden secret still. i recommend to anyone to go and have one of their specialty cocktails and some appetizers at the bar. i was in the other evening and enjoyed a hot buttered pear, which was delightful on a cold rochester night. the prices vary which means i can make the experience as casual or fine dining as i would like- even the vegetarian options could make any carnivore very happy!

easily my favorite place in town!

love local...eat at lento. love food, eat at lento. thank you so much for the bing cherry muttel. cherry's marinated in simple sugar with peppercorn, clove and cinnamon stick, makes the drink even more intoxicating. i recently discovered lento a few months ago, one of rochester's best. you must visit, art is thoughtful in his craft offoodand breaths local. a must support, you will not be disappointed.

i went last night and i must say i was completly dispointed with the entire night. after being quickly seated i had to check my own coats, then after walking to the bar i had to wait while the bartender checked on bottles of wine before she took and made my drinks. after we were seated it was about 10 min before the waiter showed up. once the orders were in, we were informed that three of our orders had to be changed because they had run out for the night. this is understandable as they are a seasonal resturant and they tried to make it better by bringing some calimari. our order then took a longer then normal time and during this wait not once did our waiter come to check on us or inform us on why our meal was taking so long. once thefoodcame out it was amazing as usual and i had no complaints there. they even brought out desert on the house because of the long waits. but with the price i paid for dinner and the lack of service i had really makes me think twice about wanting to eat a lento again.