A New Italian Trattoria in the Sharon Wins High Praise
Translated & summarized from Globes by baba
Chef Motti Super has opened Lento, a new Italian-Mediterranean trattoria in Hutzot Shfayim with Gilad Yarkoni. The reviewer calls it the best Italian trattoria in Israel, praising its food, wine list and accessible pricing. Opening hours are weekdays only for now, with weekend service expected later.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Motti Super opened Lento in Hutzot Shfayim with Gilad Yarkoni.
- The restaurant launched after Super closed La Repubblica on October 7.
- The menu uses produce from Super’s garden and includes about 20 dishes.
- The review highlights nudi, red pizza, spaghetti vongole and berry panna cotta.
- A meal for two cost 436 shekels before tip and drinks.
Lento, an Italian-Mediterranean trattoria in the Hutzot Shfayim complex in the Sharon, is a new collaboration between chef Motti Super and Gilad Yarkoni, owner of the nearby delicatessen HaChatzer HaAchorit. The restaurant is kosher-free, open for dinner only, and requires reservations. It operates Monday through Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., with weekend service planned soon.
Super, best known for La Repubblica, closed that restaurant on October 7 after 13 years in central Tel Aviv and seven more in Ramat Hahayal. Two weeks later, Yarkoni invited him to create something in the delicatessen, but the concept quickly grew into a full restaurant. Super said the partnership has roots stretching back decades, including a family connection through Yiftach Yarkoni, his olive-oil supplier for 25 years, and Gilad and their father Asa, a former military attaché in Rome and a devoted Italy lover.
The menu, about 20 dishes, is built around produce from Super’s vegetable garden. He describes his cooking as a kind of home-style Italian food made from whatever is available, but the results are polished and precise. The standout dishes include nudi in Parmesan butter, a red pizza made from a 30-year-old focaccia dough formula with a long fermentation, braised beef, spaghetti vongole, shrimp with lemon, garlic and herbs, and a panna cotta with berries. The wine list is small, with about 18 labels, and leans Israeli, Mediterranean and Italian, including Vermentino and Assyrtiko.
The review says the meal was so strong that it inspired immediate plans to return, calling Lento an accessible restaurant in price, approach and cooking. The meal for two, excluding tip and drinks, came to 436 shekels, with individual dishes priced from 29 to 138 shekels.