Salento

[johnb102]

I just saw this in my Zagat newsletter and was suprised not to have seen a mention of it here first.

The Faenzas of South Philly’s L’Angolo have moved into Center City with Salento (pictured), a rustic, white-tablecloth BYO with whitewashed walls; the well-priced menu lists homemade pastas and specialties from Davide Faenza’s hometown in Puglia.

2216 Walnut St.; 215-568-1314

[KatieLoeb]

This can be nothing but good news for those of us that have always loved the food at L'Angolo. I hope they can maintain the level of quality and service they've set the bar at in South Philly. I wish them the best.

[Jeff L]

Be on the lookout for a special called "Pasta Marco" named for one of my closest friends who worked the deal out with the Faenzas in the building.

[Diann]

Does anyone have a menu for Salento or any opinions on the place? Thanks in advance!

[jelly]

Does anyone have a menu for Salento or any opinions on the place? Thanks in advance!

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If anyone has been, I would love to hear comments. Thanks.

[shacke]

I was tipped off to Salento by somebody and I was immediately interested since I had a good experience, albeit once, at L’angolo which is just too small and far to be a frequent destination site for me. Salento is more convenient, 22nd and Walnut, and BYO.

We ate there last night and I am looking forward to returning – but not for the service.

The restaurant was crowded and the front portion of the room is cramped. There is a host/hostess desk, a terminal for servers to enter their items and a small space in between for diners to wait or sit. There is no dedicated hostess, just several servers who man the reservation book somewhat haphazardly. They clearly were not comfortable with the pace of the action at 7:30 on a Saturday night. We arrived and saw no one at the front desk and so we proceeded to the back terminal and were shoo’d away and told someone would be with us in a moment. We did not get seated until 7:50 for our reserved table and sat there while we and other waitees heard the gripes of the staff entering their checks – some words about a particular diner, arguing over a table, things like that. We watched as a clearly psychotic vagabond pestered disconcerted clients waiting outside but only until he started picking their flowers did they go outside and ask him to move on. This side of the operation needs some fine tuning. A dedicated hostess and a divider panel would do them wonders.

This did not phase us too much, I hope it doesn’t you either - as the food was very very good. Service was inconsistent but friendly. Appetizers arrived within moments but the entrees took an eternity.

There were many choices on the menu from which to decide from and I had some trouble picking – next time. We were served a complimentary bruschetta for having waited so long (the diners next to us got dessert for a similar issue). We ordered an octopus and potato salad which was stellar. I ordered a primo size papardelle with wild boar ragu. For me, this missed the mark although it was by no means hard to eat. To my palate, such a dish is a rich, comforting plate. This preparation was too acidic and bright for my expectations – perhaps needing a night in the fridge to help integrate the flavors. It was missing that heartiness you would expect. A bit disappointing - considering I opted out of several very interesting pasta choices I hemmed and hawed over.

Both our entrees were just spot on. My wife had the pan roasted gnocchi with mushrooms. I had a mixed grill of lamb on a rosemary skewer, thin sliced beef shoulder and a small medallion of veal. The veal was a bit overcooked but portions are big so at that point I just left it. The plate was served over a delicious salad of sautéed cherry tomatoes, some great roasted potatoes and thyme spiked onions. I thought it was pretty much ‘all that’ in it’s simplicity – something I have paradoxically craved more as I dine out more. Plus, the dish went really well with the wine we brought.

As for dessert, if you are 3 blocks away from the Temple of Capogiro, you better have some good dolci to keep me from leaving. Most offerings sounded better than they looked or tasted. I had a pumpkin panna cotta which was very nice. My wife had risotto rice pudding which was the standard cookie cutter version. The diners next to us (or should I say o top of us – some of the tables are that close) who we spoke to during our meal allowed us to sample the mascarpone cheesecake and the chocolate banana bread pudding. Nothing as interesting as the savory choices that are offered. None of these desserts will leave you to spit into a napkin but they are – IMO – no match for awaits you, smart diner, at 20th and Sansom.

Dinner was reasonable at $100 for two , apps – entrees – dessert – tax/tip.

I am interested in hearing from anyone who goes there so please post if you go. I will definitely be back and hopefully will have a better service experience, although the food more than made up for it. If you are prone to bad moods from poor service, then caveat emptor. Maybe if it wasn’t so crowded, the staff would not have been so pressured and the experience would have been better across the board.

You should go. It's not the tiresome "italian" that plagues large swaths of the city and for that I am grateful. It's interesting and it's delicious and it's worth the price. Bring a sangiovese based wine bottle - you can't go wrong. Heck, if you drink a little of it before you arrive, you won't notice the little blips

Evan

Edited October 7, 2007 by shacke (log)

[shacke]

True to my word, we went back last night and there were no service issues at all, despite the crowd. Food was still very good.

Some additional plates we had this time were the sauteed artichokes, papardelle with lamb ragu and potato ravioli with goat. All of these were solid. I could not decide between two pastas to start and the server offered up 1/2 portions of each which was nice (although they were huge!)

Orchiette with duck was not as good as I had hoped, although it sounded very appetizing. Someone at the table had the mixed grill that I had ordered last time and it looked just as good. This time, I ordered the veal milanese - desiring something simple. Crispy pan fried cutlet with accompanying greens and roasted potatoes.

No room for dessert but, again, I would have gone to Capogiro.

It got two bells from the Laban here and I would agree. Nothing earthshattering but a nice addition to the local Italian mob (of restaurants that is).

$200 for 4 people including generous tip.

Evan

Edited November 11, 2007 by shacke (log)

[philadining]

We hit Salento recently too, and had a similarly mixed experience as Dr Shack, in that not everything was perfect, yet we were charmed, and are planning on returning.

Service was ultra-gracious. It's one of the reasons we're thinking of going back: they seemed so concerned with us having a good time, and getting exactly what we wanted.

We had the artichokes, which we liked very much. The octupus salad was primarily potatoes, and what little octopus there was had been a touch over-cooked, but the flavors were nice.

We had several pastas, the orecchiette with duck was, as shacke said, a little less exciting than we'd hoped, but not at all bad. Penne All' Arrabiata was simple, but well-executed, with a pleasing spicy kick. Linguini Aglione had a hearty roasted tomato sauce, topped with ricotta salata, and was pretty basic, but nice. We had that potato ravioli with goat, which was good, but I doubt we'd get it again. A special ravioli was stuffed with very bitter broccoli rabe and cheese, accompanied by unexceptional sausage. Not a fave.

The mixed grill, and the lamb speidini were both decent, if done a little more than we might have chosen. But we totally loved the veal milanese. It's hard to even say why, it's nothing all that different from any other rendition of this, except that it was just perfect. No evidence of the careless breading that Laban complained about in his review, just a light, crisp crust, complimented by an argula salad and a little lemon. A couple of us mentioned that we might go back and just get artichokes and a milanese, and be perfectly satisfied.

The sides were all quite delicious, the above-mentioned cherry tomato salad met with high marks from our table too, as did the roasted potatoes and the marscapone potato cake.

Ultimately, we liked the place because it offers something different, and a few of the dishes were quite delicious. And they were very nice to us. We like that.

[zeffer81]

Anyone been lately? We're thinking of making Salento the destination of our annual Christmas season date. Thoughts???

[David McDuff]

I had the chance to check out Salento recently. Overall, a very solid experience though, as philadining suggested, a few tweaks and a little more care in the kitchen could easily bring the overall quality up a notch or two. Full details and photos can be found at: MFWT Visits Salento.

[zeffer81]

I thought I had commented on our visit a few months back but I guess not. In short, food and service was lacking--not horrible but just not up to par. I got the pan roasted gnocchi and did not like it at all. I think it was a matter of personal taste so I didn't send it back but I just couldn't get it down, which is a shame because I love gnocchi AND mushrooms! I also got a soup special (leek, maybe?) that I asked our waitress a question about. I don't remember the details of the exchange but she was condescending with me in her response. It also didn't help that we had am extremely loud and obnoxious group behind us.

The only thing that saved our evening was a very pleasant exchange with the owner near the end. In short, we live in South Philly and have had numerous amazing meals at l'Angolo, including one last month. We thought we'd check out Salento to see what it was all about but there is no reason for us to go back. l'Angolo, on the other hand, remains consistently delicious.

[Jeff L]

We're supposed to go here in the next few weeks. My close friend who manages the building is taking us. We both really like L'Angolo and look forward to something nice in the new space.

I agree with Zeffer81 about the owner. He is quite a charming guy and I've always wondered why more places don't have a visible front person to interact with patrons. It could make the difference between a meal and a memorable meal. Of course the food must be on target.

[Jeff L]

Well, almost one year to the day later, we finally got over to Salento. The four of us shared a few appetizers starting with a really incredible crispy pan fried artichoke flavored with lemon, garlic and a great fruity olive oil. We also had mussels with chickpeas and farro, excellent pairing resulting in a really tasty app.

Next for the pasta course came the ricotta gnocchi which were also pan fried. They were very good but a bit too dry to my taste. We also tried the pasta bolognese which wasn't on the menu and for me one of the highlights of the meal. It was unlike any other bolognese I've ever had. The pasta was pappardelle and the sauce was light and almost airy unlike the traditionally prepared sauce which tends to be way too heavy for my liking.

The entrees included "Maiale" which is pork tenderloin served with pancetta and white wine topped with fresh herbs. Our friend didn't leave anything on her plate. My wife had a very good veal dish in a complex red wine and tomato based sauce. I'm not too sure what else was in it but she thoroughly enjoyed it. My lamb dish was a standout, Spiedini…Marinated lamb loin skewers, arugula and shaved grana padana. I was vacillating between the red snapper and the lamb dish and made my decision after the server assured me there would be no fat on the lamb. I don't mind a little fat but sometimes lamb can be over the top fatty. What came out was perfectly cooked and seasoned lamb. I would order this dish every time and be really happy.

The service was quite good and well paced. The space is very nice, less rustic than l'angolo and quite a bit larger. For dessert we walked a few blocks over to Capogiro.