Starting Over: The Story of Lento Restaurant
After nearly 13 years of running a Tel Aviv Italian restaurant that became an institution, Moti Sofer was forced to close 'Ronimoti' and recalculate his path. Now he cooks in a small trattoria in the Shefayim complex, right next to a car wash, and offers a small, focused menu that moves away from generic Italian food - and prefers dishes full of the self-confidence of a veteran cook who doesn't intend to flatter anyone. Most of the time, it works great.
For nearly 13 years, the Italian restaurant 'Ronimoti' operated on Maze Street in Tel Aviv. Officially, the place was called 'La Republica', but no one really called it that. Everyone knew it as 'Ronimoti' — a personal, inherently modest place that stayed away from trends and aimed to do its thing consistently. Italian food, tasty, from good raw materials, in an unpretentious atmosphere of a classic bistro. When the coronavirus shook the foundations, the restaurant managed to survive. But then October 7th arrived and tipped the scales finally for Moti Sofer, the chef and owner. 'La Republica' closed. It was the kind of place that can be counted today on one hand, in a city saturated with turnover that every month finds the viral schnitzel to stand in line for.
Perhaps that is why Sofer moved to Shefayim. He opened 'Lento', his new restaurant, with a partner who invited him to work after the war. He himself still lives in Tel Aviv, but makes the trip to the old 'Hutzot Shefayim' complex twice a day. The partnership between Sofer and Gilad Yarkoni, the owner of the 'Backyard' deli in the same complex, actually began in the deli. Quite quickly, the two felt that things needed to be taken forward into a real restaurant, and not just grab-and-go food. They took over an adjacent space, next to a car wash complex, renovated it, and opened a small trattoria there that is quite hard to find when just walking around the complex. We too lingered for quite a while driving back and forth between the Aroma branch and an Asian grocery store, until we located the wooden door of the new 'Lento'.
Pizzas and pastas? Less
If judging by a first impression, the appearance here is quite temporary. It is not a stylish and impeccably designed place. At times, those sitting close to the inner wall hear well the activity in the adjacent car wash (an issue we were promised would be dealt with soon). But there is also something sympathetic and captivating in this rough randomness. The menu is printed daily anew with changes according to the supply of fish and vegetables in season. There was a sense of confusion in the air, but that's how it is in places that are relatively new.
When reading the names of the dishes, it is evident that for those looking for a routine pasta and pizza restaurant, 'Lento' is not the address. There is a focused list of dishes here, which on the day we visited included two pastas and one pizza that were less attractive than any other dish on the list. The appetizers caught the eye with options like 'twin sardines' (the house version of 'married sardines', which reminded me a lot of the favorite dish from the old Jerusalem Italian restaurant 'Topolino'), burrata with green pesto and apricots cooked in sugar, and veal tartare with horseradish aioli. These are not Italian dishes that you find everywhere today, but dishes full of self-confidence of a cook with decades of experience who is not looking to flatter anyone.
First to land on the table was a Panzanella salad (62 NIS) with a variety of tomatoes and pieces of good mozzarella, which was distinguished by roasted peppers, alongside pieces of focaccia baked on the spot and Kalamata olives. It was a completely standard salad, not exciting but effective. Especially standing out were the bites of tasty focaccia, which absorbed the sour-sweet sauce. We continued to a great appetizer of roasted asparagus (56 NIS), which are now at the peak of their season. The greens kept their backbone and at the same time received excellent roasting flavors that complemented the salty sheep cheese paired with them with good olive oil and za'atar spice prepared on the spot. There was nothing distinctly Italian here, on the contrary, this is a dish that could be served in the most Israeli restaurant. But when it's tasty, there's no need for explanations.
Dishes that make a restaurant
Even tastier were the follow-up dishes; the shrimp bite with lemon and herbs with garlic (68 NIS) included nice shrimp, which dipped in an excellent sauce with a lemon sting and good garlic. Courtesy of the place, we were also served a portion of gnudi - large spinach and ricotta dumplings in butter with parmesan abundant in umami (58 NIS). The best appetizer was the 'twin sardines' (42 NIS) - a quartet of fresh sardines that were filleted, opened, and filled with herbs in which fresh sage is dominant. Then they were floured and fried, and for serving were placed on an excellent tomato sauce. A fantastic dish in a Mediterranean flavor combination, which brings out the best of the seasonal catch and the excellent and aromatic herbs. These are exactly the dishes that make a restaurant. Dishes that you remember. That suddenly you get a craving for. That make you want to return.
For the pasta dish we ordered, if only to fulfill the obligation (after all, an Italian restaurant) - tagliatelle strips served in a sauce of cherry confit, za'atar, butter, and parmesan (72 NIS) - already did not have the same impact. It was a banal pasta in a rather mediocre sauce, which there is no need to elaborate on. If you go for simple, it has to be the best there is. Here it was just simple.
We consulted with two waitresses and also with the owner about the rest of the meal. As a rule, the dishes here are not large, and we felt there was room for another dish. Everyone directed us to the sirloin. Sirloin steak in an Italian restaurant? Again the place to sharpen the message - in my eyes, this is not necessarily a restaurant you come to in order to eat Italian food. The sirloin, which we were convinced to order even though it was the most expensive dish on the menu (148 NIS), was extraordinary. A cut that was aged on the spot for 48 days, and served alongside a completely unnecessary sauce and good greens. Every bite in this cut was surprising, rich in excellent meat flavors that don't need any addition, with a level of doneness no less than perfect. If Moti Sofer is standing here and preparing a sirloin for you, it is worth a special arrival.
We thought a piece of meat would make the meal excessive, and we were wrong. It was so good, with a little coarse salt, that quite quickly no trace of it remained. A last sip of the red Rioja we ordered alongside the food, and we remained more than satisfied.
Sweet from the bold
We finished with a basic and good panna cotta with berries on top (46 NIS). A modest, precise, and pleasant ending, exactly like the essence of this place. With two dishes that left a mark, a great sirloin, and twin sardines that are a version of wonderful nostalgia, 'Lento' can be declared a restaurant that is perhaps at the beginning of its path, but already holds a promise to become a family and stable place that is rare for the area. Especially when it comes to the more familiar Italian dishes, which I feel can be found better in other places, the boundaries should be pushed further. After all, pasta is already everywhere. A little daring is required that will take the banal dishes in a more interesting direction, or vice versa - summarizing the simplicity and its precision - and in the talented hands of Sofer, there is no doubt that these too will become excellent dishes.
When examining 'Lento' against other options in the immediate vicinity, its star shines even brighter. Eavesdropping on residents of the nearby moshavim who arrived at the restaurant, it sounds like there is a consensus of enthusiasm that there is no longer a need to get on the coastal road towards Herzliya or Tel Aviv for a good dinner. Now it remains to hope that the sequence of wars that cut off Sofer's path in Tel Aviv will allow him to extract sweet from the bold, and continue to offer the Shefayim area his seniority in kitchen work. This time, instead of a giant restaurant in the heart of Tel Aviv, in rustic wooden decor, with pricing that is mostly relatively sane and space to grow. Just please, the next time we come, we would be happy for a soundtrack different from the scrubbing of cars. You promised.
'Lento'. Hutzot Shefayim complex, coastal road.
