PrintLento's
I can't help it. After five years of living in New York City, the first two of those in Bay Ridge, I can't help but mentally utter "THE FRESHMAYKAH" after hearing, or thinking of, the name Lento's.
Lento's (THE FRESHMAYKAH!) is a Bay Ridge institution, having stood on the corner of Third Avenue and 70th Street since 1933. When I called the Ridge home, Lento's was my go-to spot for whole pies, despite the 20-block round-trip walk. (It's eat in or carry out; no delivery.)
In a city known for thin-crust pizza, Lento's, a combination bar and restaurant, goes to the extreme. This stuff is cracker thin and has an almost pastrylike flakiness to it. For pizza lovers who hold the ideal crust to be that hard-to-achieve dichotomy of crispness and chewiness, Lento's may fall short. There's no way you can do the "fold hold" on a slice here without it breaking crunchily down the center. Not of consequence to me, having grown up eating many a homemad pie in this vein as my dad experimented with crusts and sauces before opening a short-lived pizzeria in the inhospitable-to-pizza town of Olathe, Kansas. In a way, Lento's was a slice of home to this transplanted hick.
Long story short, I hadn't been to the place in ages, not since moving to Park Slope a couple years ago. But I was bitten by the Lento's bug a couple months ago, during talk of a Bay Ridge pizza contest. I wanted to visit, this time with a more critical palate, to see if it was all that I remembered.
The crust was as light and crisp and crackery as ever, and since I'm a crust guy, it rated high. But I was dismayed to find that a thick blanket of cheese contributed to most of the flavor, masking an adequate but not-all-that-special tomato sauce. It was good, just nowhere near as great as I remembered it.
But why not? I doubt that Lento's quality has nosedived since my time in Bay Ridge. I'd guess that, after moving away and starting Slice, learning more about pizza as I've posted entries over the last year and a half, my taste in pizza has changed. And, sadly, a pizza that used to give me so much comfort and joy, when put under the Slice-roscope came up wanting. I still stand by Lento's, though, and my one hope is that, maybe if I order it with half the cheese they normally use, I could get something a little more balanced.
It'll be worth another trip back to the old stamping grounds to experiment.
Update: As of January 2006, Lento's is closed. R.I.P.
LENTO'S
Address: 7003 Third Ave., Brooklyn, NY (Bay Ridge)
Phone: 718-745-9197
The Skinny: Ultrathin-crust pizza gets cold fast; best eaten in-house. Flaky, crackerlike crust. Could stand to have less cheese.
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10 Comments:
Yeah, but have you ever seen their kitchen? (They leave the side door open in warm weather.) I'll certainly never eat there again.
Vesuvio at 73rd is a much better choice--in my opinion.
Slice Local at 5:27PM on 06/21/05
I live literally 80 feet from there.
Slice Matthew Krautheim at 8:14PM on 06/22/05
I prefer Rocco's on 5th or Ginos... Pizzeria has to be owned by italians and the pizza needs to be made by italians!!!
Slice PIZZALICIOUS at 12:01AM on 06/23/05
WOW! Have
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WWW.FLYINGPIZZAS.COM REAL NEW YORK CITY PIZZA was at my door-step in two days by FEDEX!!!!
It was a large 18 inch cheessssssy handmade pie---and FREE shipping.....
I'll be ordering every week now---
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Slice sandy at 2:40PM on 06/23/05
I am a huge Lento's fan from my 2 years in Bay Ridge ('02-'04) - back then they did deliver, but I don't know if that's changed since.
Slice geoff at 4:26PM on 08/31/05
We are heartbroken Lento's closed after 72 years. We were your first customers, ha, ha, now we have to pay $8.00 to go over the bridge in Staten Island, I think we should be compensated.
Slice Lauralee, Kathy, Sarah at 10:38AM on 01/10/06
If you miss Lento's thin crust its not the end of the world, go to Rizzo's on Steinway St. in Astoria, probably the best thin crust neopolitan pizza in NYC.
Slice Joe at 10:39PM on 04/30/07
Lento's lives on at the Canteena at the corner of 80th and 5th in Bay Ridge! I've had it a few times and it's exactly the same. They bought the old Lento's oven.
TimSPC at 3:14PM on 02/24/08
Unfortunately, Canteena is an Old El Passo esque Mexican joint with pretty pedestrian food. The environment is Bay Ridge frat drinking types, so having a Lento's pie there is just not the same.
As least the old beat up Lento's had the old NY dive charm that's hard to come by these Disney days.
You should check out Yellow Hook Grille, which replaced it.
The pie isn't on par with Lento's, but they did a great job renovating and
it ain't bad for a bar pie.
DIMATAL at 12:00AM on 03/04/08
I did not care for the Yellow Hook Grille. The Canteena doesn't have any atmosphere, but it has the pizza. Yellow Hook Grille is very generic. None of the food is worth eating.
TimSPC at 12:12PM on 06/06/08