lento

i ate atlentoonce, 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? the food was ok, but surely not worth the prices. there are many better choices out there for the cost.

we walked intolentotonight 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 table food was 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. the food was 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.lentois definitely on our list of date night restaurants, and clearly seems to embrace and glorify the local and sustainable movement.

local. seasonal. sustainable. this is whatlentoprides itself on and you can see it as soon as you walk in. they have huge chalkboards that feature the local places their meats and vegetables come from. even their drinks use fresh ingredients, not typical flavored syrups that you might taste in most cocktails.

bar...none. i went tolentoto 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 my food and still hadn't received the second drink i ordered.

i finished my food and 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.

rancid. everyone keeps telling me how much they love this place. the signature cocktails are pretty good, but when it comes to the overpriced food, i would rather pass. i have eaten dinner atlentotwice. the first time, i wasn't really impressed and i thought it was really over priced. this time, well, they served me rancid mussels. yes, rancid. it was clear they were rancid based on the overpowering smell they put off. i asked the waitress to simply smell what was brought out to me and she was mortified and quickly took them away. she said the chef took the item off the menu immediately, but the smell was so overwhelming that i can't believe it was even sent out in the first place. the others with me enjoyed their food, but i would say, stay clear of the seafood at lento, it is never good.

lento?. i went tolentowith 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 of food midway 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 the food not 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 making food for 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. food is cooked slow which is where the namelentocame from, so don't be in a hurry! the bread they bring to table while you wait for food is really yummy .

i've been meaning to try outlentosince it opened at village gate over the summer, and i finally made it there for the first time last week. the menu, which changes daily (an ambitious undertaking!), features a wide range of meat, fish, and vegetarian op

an amazing valentine's day meal. i am a recent vegetarian, and my confirmed carnivore husband took me to the best veggie restaurant he could find in rochester: lento. we were not disappointed; true, we are not used to high-class dining, and the prices were a bit steep, but the quality and experience was well worth the price. i was disappointed that they were out of the one vegetarian (actually vegan) main course that i had wanted, but this worked out well for me in the end as i just ordered a starter, 2 appetizers, and a salad----more than enough! our meal began with some lovely fresh bread and peppered extra virgin olive oil for dipping. i had the 3 cheeses with grilled nut bread and it was amazing----the smoked mozzarella was not particularly to my taste, but the goat cheese and the brie were divine: flavors like i've never experienced before. my husband's duck liver pate was equally well enjoyed. my "main course" of goat cheese tart and chickpea-battered vegetables was very nice; the tart was very flavorful and moist, and served with fresh greens drizzled with balsamic vinegar----light and delicious. the chickpea-battered local vegetables were deceptive: they look like common bar fried snacks, but they were light as a feather without the slightest hint of greasiness or taste of "old oil" about them. the asian-inspired dipping sauce served with them was delicious. my house salad was tender greens served with a balsamic vinegairette---not particularly avant garde, but pleasing. my husband had a duo of lamb with rice and his plate was cleaned at the end of the meal. we shared a decadent chocolate mousse cake after dinner----truly scrumptious, and a recommendation from our server. the service was attentive, friendly, not stuffy but not over-bearing, quick, and knowledgable. i would eat atlentoagain in a heartbeat, if i could afford to! as it is, this will be our "special dinner" place.

yuck.. no offense lento- but what the hell?
i looked up this restaurant online, looking for somewhere a little more upscale that offered vegetarian options.lentoat first seemed to fit the bill. our wine was very good and the atmosphere was interesting- then the appetizers arrived. skimpy arugula salad with a drizzle of dressing and "chickpea battered local vegetables".. which really resembled deep fried bar-quality onion rings, peppers and broccoli. while ordering, we consulted our overly bubbly waitress who replied that both the vegetarian gumbo and butternut squash ravioli were great. we chose the gumbo. big. mistake. the presentation was sloppy and it tasted like it was drenched in liquid smoke flavoring. on the first bite we both decided we couldn't eat it (neither of us is a picky eater and are used to "healthy tasting" vegetarian food). when our bubbly waitress came back to see how we were doing, we both replied that we were sorry, but we really disliked the dish. instead of offering any kind of alternative, the waitress said "yeah, a lot of people don't like the smoky flavor, i've never had it before so i don't know", then walked away.
we sat there working our way through the miserable mush in front of us and then decided to give up. should have stayed home and made some ramen... thank good the wine was good. don't go here.

lento is our favorite restaurant. when we lived in rochester, we went whenever we had a special occasion to celebrate, and we never had a bad meal there. the wait staff is excellent and very knowledgeable, their menu is exciting and dynamic (it always changes, you can never get bored!) and the prices are amazingly reasonable for the quality of meal you receive. we recently got married in rochester, and made the excellent choice of havinglentohost our wedding reception. they did an incredible job, and it was the perfect place to have our reception. we have sinced moved away from rochester, but we have made a pact to always get a meal atlentowhenever we are in town.

if you are in the mood for an amazing, seasonal meal, go to lento!!!!

-jon and caty

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 aboutlentofrom 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 throwlentoout 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 vegan food to mollify the compassionate eaters of rochester.

the restaurant was way too noisy, and the food was 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 atlentolast 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 findlentoto 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 atlentomany times and have never been dissatisfied. all of the food is 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 discoveredlentoa few months ago, one of rochester's best. you must visit, art is thoughtful in his craft of food and breaths local. a must support, you will not be disappointed.