Trentina

I’ve never written a review about the bathroom of a restaurant but this place had hands down the COOLEST bathroom I’ve ever been in, in my life. I’m not kidding. What’s even better is that the food and service of this place was also just as awesome, so basically I’m in love with Trentina.
My friend and I walked in last night without a reservation (I recommend making one, especially on a Friday night) but we were lucky that they had a 2 top open up for us. I ordered the steak and my friend got a pasta dish that were both absolutely delicious. Then it came time for dessert and we were stuck between ordering this coffee ice cream dish vs. a chocolate tart. One of the chef’s overheard us debating which dessert we wanted and nicely enough brought out both!!! It was the best day of my life. The coffee ice cream dessert had this cream that turned into pudding when you poured it over the ice cream. I don’t know what the heck it was, the chef quickly described it, but whatever it was it was SO DAMN GOOD!
Then there was the bathroom. First of all it was so warm and cozy, I literally wanted to curl up in a ball and park it in there for a few hours. The toilet or «bidet» as I guess its called was like a robot and had a heated toilet seat and a massager!!! Maybe thats TMI but I’d never seen anything like it in my life so I just had to rave about it haha. Not to mention the cool hand drying device attached the sink and the plethora of breath mints available — coolest bathroom ever.
Go try Trentina, the end.

I’m so sad to update this review. I really, truly am. But the things I said before aren’t true any longer and I don’t want to be misleading.
We’ve been back for brunch 4 times since our first visit and each time is worse than the last — the bacon went from thick and generous to skimpy pieces. The charcuterie platter went from a nice presentation with nice portions to just looking like things were hastily thrown on. And don’t get me wrong, both items are still delicious — I just feel that the quality has dropped significantly. The entrees have been just ok and for the price, I don’t think we’ll continue to have brunch here.
Dinner was great the time we visited and will be the only reason we will come back.
I understand trying to impress people the first weeks of business, but I feel like there needs to be some follow through. Especially on key menu items.

Stayed away for a bit because of the bad reviews. I know Sawyer is a skilled chef so I decided I had to check it out. To my surprise the food and service were both great. Been there twice and eaten a la carte each time and really enjoyed it. I have yet to try the tasting menu, maybe that’s good according to reviews, but as far as my experiences go it was nothing but good.

Totally, totally, totally confused by some of the negative reviews on here. My partner and I went last night – it was our first visit and were celebrating our anniversary – and had the best restaurant experience EVER. Very special and very memorable.
FOOD
We decided to do the 12 course tasting menu with drink pairings. The price was steep ($ 115 for food, $ 50 for drinks, $ 165 total per person) but absolutely worth it. I’m not going to go through and review each course we had because it would be way too much, but each and every course was simply delicious. The dishes and recipes were unique and original. Great for foodies and very chef driven. Presentation was absolutely spectacular – there is no competition.
In addition to the twelve courses, we were surprised with what’s called a «revisit» — we each got to choose a course that we would like to experience again. It was a wonderful surprise and something neither of us had ever heard of.
The chef came out after completing the tasting menu. It meant a lot that he took the time to speak with us about the food and our experience.
Highlights:
— two little balls of duck and goat cheese served on a GIANT wooden block
— beef heart tartare
— mushroom soup with the broth poured table side
— pasta with ricotta and lemon zest
— pasta with animal fat that melted and tasted like gravy
— roasted turnips with watermelon radish and salsa verde
— cranberry sorbet with yogurt and granola
— Prosecco gummies with a surprise inside…
— bread served with an edible candle — you dip your bread in it as it melts
— cappelletti spritz garnished with an Ohio-​grown apple slice
— red effervescent wine
SERVICE
P-​H-​E-​N-​O-​M-​E-​N-​A-​L. Outstanding. Our server Sarah was the best server we have ever had. Fun, nice, personable, and most importantly, knowledgeable. The food runner was knowledgeable as well, describing every dish and explaining the ingredients and cooking techniques.
AMBIENCE
I was legitimately shocked at the size of this restaurant. It’s tiny. I thought there was more seating upstairs — nope. I think there were maybe ten tables total. It’s small, but cozy and intimate. Modern, classy, contemporary décor. You must check out the bathrooms — super high tech!
Most definitely recommend.

I’ve been twice. It’s now my favorite place to get a meal in Cleveland.
The wine is expensive. There is a 40 $ bottle of red — Schiano — that I turn to. A great way to bring down the wine cost is to start next door at the Glidden House while you wait for your table to be ready. They have a selection of 23 $ bottles that you can start there and then bring over to Trentina when the table it ready. It’s a fun way to start anyway, as the Glidden House is gorgeous.
The ambiance is nice. It’s well lit and playful, but it is still a nice dinner. Exactly what you’re looking for when you get high end American cuisine. Casual but classy. I love the small dining room, it feels more personal and intimate. The service was spot on. The hostesses really made us comfortable, the food descriptions were on point, and the chef came out both times to see how we were doing.
BUT, let’s get to the point…
The food is what you’re coming here for. The scratch pasta is delicious. The bucatini and clams and linguini were both good, but I recommend the gnocchi osso buco. You can order them in halves, so there is no reason not to.
The oysters are fantastic and the mignonette and horseradish combo is just right. Their origin rotates, so the first time they were sweater and the second time more complex. Both were from various parts of the Chesapeake Bay. I will keep my eyes open for the Chesapeake salt-​flats oysters in the future,
The house bread is a must. It’s fun — the candle is edible — and taste’s like a sophisticated McDonald’s Quarter Pounder (candle is beef fat).
My favorite dish was the duck two ways. One of the most difficult thing to decide is always breast or leg. Here you get both. Breast was rare, leg was falling off the bone, and both were served on delicious buttery grits with some charred carrots.
I’ve had a couple other things: an ice cream with coffee for desert, an octopus in mushroom broth, a cheese and pickled goodies plate with spec, all good.
And I’ll leave the best for last: an ox-​heart tartar on a rice crisp (play on a chicharones) and a fried grouper collar. I think both show up on the tasting menu from time to time. They were flavors you aren’t getting elsewhere in Cleveland and were perfectly executed.
Finally, if you don’t get to Trentina as much as you like, I recommend the tasting menu with pairings. That way you get to try some of these more exciting things (like the ox-​heart) and have a night of it. But, if you can come down once a month, going a la carte works and is reasonable. And, if you come enough and are pleasant, the kitchen might send out some of these lesser known favorites.

I’m baffled by the negative reviews talking about price and pretension on here… this is why we can’t have nice things.
I had a relaxing and truly delicious lunch here this past week. I’m a fan of Jonathon Sawyer so I was excited. My mom and I walked in and were seated immediately. The restaurant itself is beautiful and quaint. It’s quite an intimate space but not claustrophobic, very elegant but not pretentious at all.
Service was above and beyond. Our server was friendly, helpful and perfectly attentive. Reading some other reviews made me a bit intimidated at first because I was wearing workout leggings and others claimed they were dressed nicely and ignored by staff. Apparently this must’ve been a one-​time thing because I felt welcomed and no one but me cared about what I was wearing.
We ordered the golden beet salad, carrots & parsnips and the mushroom pizza. We ended the meal with the buttermilk custard. The standout was definitely the carrots & parsnips. They’re tender, sweet with a little savory bite, very well done. The beet salad was great as well. It’s a bit smoky though so if that isn’t your thing this isn’t your thing. I disagree with other reviewers on the mushroom pizza. I thought it was delicious, specifically because of the kale. It cuts the creaminess of the fonduta and the result is an awesome umami flavor that isn’t too heavy. The buttermilk custard was actually the only thing I didn’t love, it’s good, but nothing to rave about.
I expected the portions to be small and I found our three dishes to be more than enough food for two people. We even had leftovers. It’s a nice restaurant — don’t expect the portions to be the same as the Cheesecake Factory. I think the same goes for price. I was actually expecting our bill to be much, much higher. With two starters, one pizza, one dessert and two coffees — our bill only came out to $ 46. Perhaps I’m just used to LA prices where something like this would’ve easily been closer to $ 80.
tl;dr — If you want a well thought out meal for a decent price, try Trentina. And stop complaining about portion sizes.

Great top to bottom. We went to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The space is cozy… tables are close together. At times the noise level fluctuates from quiet to loud depending on your tablemates. Food was delicious. Standouts for us were the charcuterie, beet salad, buccatini, and bread for the table. Tight wine list… Pino Nero was terrific. Don’t drink too much before you make the vertical trek to the bathroom (which is the coolest bathroom in CLE, naturally). Service was impeccable. So great to see smaller portion sizes offered for sharing. No parking option other than meters on the street. But seriously this was great.

We’re so glad we chose to come here on our one opportunity to eat dinner while in town. «Real» food that foodies would still flock to in Chicago, but less trying to be overinstagrammed for publicity and much much more affordable.
The most memorable thing has got to be the bread, served with a beef fat candle and whipped butter w/​sumac. By bread, I mean a pizza dough puffed in the oven — what a creative yet simple and delicious way to serve «bread!» At $ 8 it’s pretty steep, but we were offered more bread multiple times, so maybe it’s bottomless bread as long as your candle/​butter lasts? Who knows. But totally creative with wow-​factor and a great way to start your meal.
We ended up choosing bread, a salad, 2 tasting portion pastas, and 2 mains, and it was more than enough food to be comfortably full for 2 people. The flavors were mostly delicious. My favorite was probably the broccoli with a ton of funk. Get that too. Overall, I thought everything we had was priced extremely fairly and tasted great. There were a minor missteps in the execution (like overcooked bucatini and not so crispy duck skin) but at no point did I feel like my money wasn’t well spent.
Service and ambiance were great. Everyone said happy anniversary to us because of my little open table note, the servers were attentive and sweet and very on top of their stuff.
Would totally come here again if we end up moving here, maybe try a pizza…

For the price point, good food but disappointing portion sizes. Specialty tea selection was clearly stale (dragonwell) and past its «serve-​by» date. Unlikely to return.

How pretentious can one place be? This place has outdone even the most pretentious of restaurants to the point that they believe they can do no wrong and treat the customers like dirt. The manager was especially irksome. He seemed to believe that his level of hipster coolness allowed him to be above providing solid customer service.
It is possible that this place serves the best food in Cleveland or anywhere, but the taste left in my mouth by the manager and staff overpowered my ability to enjoy the food. If I owned this place I would send the manager elsewhere to «forage.»

There seems to be quite the variety of reviews here. Lots of hot or cold and not much in between…
For me, this was definitely a 5 star experience. I think… I think you have to go to Trentina with a very open mind. You have to suspend your disbelief. (A Restaurant like this in Cleveland?). You have to be ready to experience new things, to have faith in the skills of the wizards behind the curtain, and to go into each course with the zest of unraveling a mystery. You have to be ready for a slow experience. Bring good company. (That always makes everything better.)
I went to Trentina with my husband and a very close friend of ours for dinner on a Saturday night. We had, beforehand when confirming our reservations, chosen to do the 3-​hour-​long Menu Bianco 12 course experience with the wine pairings. We arrived earlier than our reservation, were seated immediately, and were a few of the handful of people in the restaurant. That quickly changed as the small and intimate setting became full, and lively!
For me, the evening started off slowly. The first two courses, while good, featured quite a few pickled items – which are not my personal favorite. (But you’d better bet your booty that I tried them all!) The llama was really delicious. Llama! Who knew? The cheeses were divine. Then there was the bread and that mighty fine fat-​candle for dipping. What’s not to love about bread and some savory dipping?
I really enjoyed the amount of time the servers took with us to describe each course. There were times the three of us each had a different dish for that course, and we took time to share portions and comment to one another on what we tasted. What we liked. What we didn’t. Which dish was our favorite. For us, each course that came out only seemed to get better and better. The portions are, most assuredly, small. However, not a single one of us (and all 3 of us can EAT) felt unsatisfied by the end of the night. I guess, maybe, I feel as though feeling «full» isn’t so much about the portions as it is about how satisfying the meal is, and to me, this was a very satisfying meal.
I didn’t care for the texture of the dessert I was given (it was something vanilla, tasty, but it was gelatinous, and I don’t particularly like that mouth-​feel) so ended up swapping with my husband for his dark chocolate tarte-​type dish and it was fantastic. (Please don’t ask me what these dishes were called. I would have had to write them all down to remember them. Ha!) I thought the wine pairings were fantastic and WELL worth the cost. It really does come to about 4 glasses by the end of the meal. While some of the beverages were things I would not have chosen, the magic really is in the pairing!
We actually ended up spending our whole evening at Trentina (5 hours!) and I would never call it an evening misspent. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and very patient with all of our silly questions. Also, a special thanks to Jeremy for giving us a tour of his food lab. That was pretty darn amazing, too!
I would go again in a heartbeat.

Disgusting food, which is only more so a shame since the hotel we stayed at uses them for all their room service. We got their cheese, meat and pickled vegetables sampler as an appetizer and found that the whole plate was pretty much inedible. The meats were okay, but the vegetables were disgusting. The cheese was a mixture of both okay and gross — Depending on which one you ate.
We wanted to keep our meals simple, so we got the burgers. These were decent — In a hoity toity sort of way. However the salad that accompanied it was inedible. It was literally a wet pile of salt.
It’s a real shame that this place is the only option for hotel guests of the Glidden House to get for room service, because based on what we had delivered, I wouldn’t step one foot in the actual restaurant.

This is a destination restaurant for hard-​core foodies, not for those looking for a quick, big, cheap meal.
My wife and I came here for our anniversary and did the 12 course tasting menu. Everything we had ranged from very good to wonderful. The service was friendly, warm, knowledgeable, attentive, and fun. We had a great experience.
In service, in style, and in food, this is as close as we get to a fine, upscale, European restaurant.
But a couple of warnings. This is a very pricey restaurant. For the two of us, with the tasting menu and a total of five glasses of wine, it was about $ 300. I think it was worth it (I suspect many people would not), but this is a «treat» restaurant, not an everyday one.
Second, the whole meal took 3 hours. This is not the place to go before the theater, or if you got a sitter waiting for you.
But if you want a food experience, this is the place to go.

Very trendy small restaurant with beautiful décor. White modern table and chairs and tall ceilings. The restaurant can only seat about 20 people. The lunch menu was about 15 $ for pasta and 7 – 10 $ for salad, and to be full you need both. The portions here are small. The pasta is not prepackaged and the combinations of ingredients are innovative.
The gnocci was by far my favorite item. Crispy outside with cream filling and beet sauce which really wasn’t overwhelming.
For lunch, a full meal is about 25 $. It’s pricey to dine here but if you’re willing to indulge, its a good meal. There are plenty of places in Cleveland though where you can enjoy a great Italian meal for half the price but the food is refined and flavor profiles are unique. Trentina serves quality food in an upscale atmosphere and is a good destination for special occasions. I have not tried the tasting menu and have only tried the lunch fare.

I went to Trentina for brunch with friends. The food was good. I ordered the French toast that had delicious apples on top. There was no syrup and I appreciated the change of pace. The atmosphere was nice — very classy. I’ve heard the tasting menu dinners are amazing. I enjoyed this experience, but as a vegetarian, there were not many options on the menu for me. I would definitely recommend going here at least once. If anything, they have a remote control bidet in the bathroom.

Went here for brunch on Sunday morning. We had a reservation but it was pretty quiet when we arrived. Everyone ordered either the french toast or ricotta cakes and there were many empty plates by the end of the meal. The portion size was good — filling but not too much. For the price, it’s on par with other upscale brunch places in the area. The service was pretty good — although it took a while to get cream for the coffee, and I had to ask for it versus it being offered. Don’t miss the remote controlled bidet — it’s pretty fancy (see pics). Just a note, when I called to make a reservation the hostess was rude. Also the ambiance and temperature were great — we sat by the door and it was still warm, maybe a problem they fixed from prior reviews.

This is a very unique restaurant. It’s small and intimate which at first I didn’t understand why it was so small but soon after I actually enjoyed it. You must make a reservation! The atmosphere is nice and actually somewhat relaxing. They have some beautiful art on the walls, which I enjoyed looking at.
As for the food, we had the bread board as an appetizer, a few different breads and 3 different «dippings», one of them being an edible candle that turned into butter! (AWESOME) My favorite bread was the flatbread which was infused with some amazingly fresh herbs. We also ordered the broccoli plate which came topped with anchovies, that too was delicious.
For dinner, I ordered the heirloom tomato pasta, they make the pasta noodles fresh so I just had to order it. It was delicious and fresh and you can really taste the difference between freshly made pasta and prepackaged pasta that’s been sitting in a bag or box like in most restaurants.
Service was wonderful and they are attentive. Everyone I came in contact with from the minute I walked in was beyond pleasant.
One thing: their soft drink menu does not offer diet products, and they do not offer Splenda, only brown sugar, which may be a concern to any diabetic.
Overall, I would come back here again. :)

If you love brunch, (whats not to love) then this is a must try! It’s hard to put into words the deliciousness that is Trentina’s Brunch. I suppose I will start at the beginning.
The host who greeted us was so happy and welcoming you couldn’t help but start your morning off with a smile. The restaurant it self is intimate with only a few tables, reservations are required.
As we waited to the rest of our party of 6 to arrive I ordered the Carafe of Mimosas. They have three different variations your regular OJ, grapefruit, and my favorite the Cranberry. It was absolutely delightful and definitely enough for sharing with friends.
I first ordered the Bacon Dumplings and they were to die for. Just enough salty and sweet with heavenly sauce. It was hard to share when friends asked for a taste. As a bacon lover I also ordered their Glazed bacon and the truth is. not all bacon is created equal. I didn’t want the deliciousness to end for only $ 6 its a must try!
As my main dish I had the Trentina Toast and it just melts in your mouth. Never have I had such a light and fluffy french toast. I will say that if you are not a person for sweets in the morning you may want to stay away from this it was almost like having dessert for breakfast (no complaints here).
Having sampled a few other breakfast plates from friends you can’t go wrong with any item on the menu.

Spend $ 115 on the Bianco tasting menu and report out my thoughts, insights and feelings about it to fellow Unilocalers? Someone had to do it, and tonight, I present a review that is somewhat painful to write.
The theme of the Bianco tasting menu is «an inventive twist on the edible wildlife around us». The focus of the culinary skill here it seems, is to do what it takes to highlight and frame the flavors of nature, that are by default, a culinary gift unto itself. You won’t see heavy sauces or deep fried fare. You will see a gentle approach to: wild mushrooms, the same mushroom essence aged for a year, eggs poached on tree bark charcoal, prawns essences made from the entire prawn, fish roe, rabbit and game. If I was to rename this tasting menu in less sophisticated fashion, I’d call it the «Forager’s Special» or «Cleveland Metroparks Special» — imagine «survivalist» fare turned sophisticated or how Jonathon Sawyer would cook if he was left with nothing but ingredients from the north american wilderness. I think the concept is bold, very forward thinking and also… risky.
Sounds good so far? Here’s how the 2-​hour, 12-​course adventure tasted.
The first plate that came out had these polenta flakes that honestly had the texture of plastic cellophane topped with salted butter. My teeth got a work out from the polenta jerky. In my estimation, each of these chew toys probably set me back 5 bucks each so I had to finish it. With it was this pea-​sized morsel of what seemed like beef carpaccio on the side and thin slice of pickled beet.
What followed next was a literal 1X1 foot block of wood laid on our table topped with exactly two pea-​sized portions of some chickpea pastry topped with a single piece of fish roe. It would have been a disaster had I dropped it, so I picked it up carefully and ate it with my eyes closed, but it was so small that it went down my throat like a pill. Well, so much for that. Did they invite us take home the block of wood? Unfortunately not, if yes, it would have been worth it, I could have built a bird house for my back yard.
Then came plate after plate of thin as air, small-​as-​possible portions of fish, various broths, prawns with what they call «prawn butter» made from crushed prawn parts, exactly two oysters, a single piece of mussel wrapped around a single fettuccinni noodle, and a spoonful of mushrooms.
The highlight of the night was this candle made from beef fat that melted and could serve as a dip for the bread. Still starving, they finally came up with the meat, which was rabbit sausage with casing made from it’s own gut and a matchbox-​sized portion of sirloin (hey, this isn’t an exotic item — why the matchbox size?!?). Then, there was desert, bavarian cake the size of a twinkie followed by a single macaroon, you guessed it, pea-​sized.
In comparing this with other $ 115 meals I’ve had in my lifetime, this one tasted «good». Frivolous, yes. But great? I was struggling to think so and I felt like that kid in «The Emperor’s New Clothes». But here’s the deal though — do not trust my palate. Point is, I know that to a casual listener, Igor Stravinski, one of classical music’s greatest geniuses, would sound unintelligible. Heck, not all rock aficionados can understand the genius behind The Grateful Dead.
Verdict: My taste is likely too undeveloped for this type of food. I’m simple enough to be satisfied with classic fare like duck confit, cassoulet, risotto, or steakhouse steak. This would likely be a 5-​star rating for more evolved diners, culinary students or fellow chefs. Sawyer is a chef’s chef.
We left the place bewildered. This was way beyond my comprehension. My opinion probably wouldn’t count here, so I’ll go with the expert reviews and say this is good eats. 4 stars.

After hearing about the new Jonathan Sawyer restaurant, my girlfriends and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner tonight. And wow, all I can say– it was by far the best dinner I have ever experienced in Cleveland.
See, the best part about Cleveland, is that you don’t have to be waitlisted for 3 months to try to get into a restaurant of this caliber– nor do you need to shell out 200 – 300 dollars on one meal. You don’t have to wait in some ridiculous line for 2+ hours to get a seat (just make a reservation though). You don’t have to push your way through crowds to get to Trentina. There is a dress attire, so you have to dress up– but hey, why not, it makes for an enjoyable experience. Trentina was incredible– and we made reservations only a couple of days prior to our dinner, parked in the complimentary valet, and walked peacefully into the restaurant.
It’s a great looking restaurant– clean, white walls, large windows, mirrored tables– I love the design of it.
Currently, they have two tasting menus– the bianco and the pasta. The bianco is the bigger menu, and it’s cheaper to buy online rather in the dining room. However, we chose a smaller tasting menu (5 pasta dishes + other tastings) — and it was amazing. All the pasta is made in house and they were by far, the best pasta I think I have ever had. Ever.
I wish I could rattle off the names of the pasta, but not being Italian, I kind of am unsure of what I’m talking about when I say the names. All I can say though, was that the pasta– was utterly amazing– filled with varying dishes including abalone (abalone! Chef Sawyer gets his abalone from his a friend who owns an abalone business. When I saw the abalone, I was like, «WHAT? Abalone?!), caviar, roe, scallops, special fungi, amazing cheese, and so on. My favorites of the night were the ouvo all trentina (the egg comes out in this wooden branch of some sort, cooked over embers… straight onto your plate of amazing pasta), and pline + zuppa di vino vianco– which was this amazing cheese in a bread ball of some sort, with pureed cabbage, etcera… amazing. Utterly amazing. And all the pasta is made in house. OMG, SOOOOOOOOOO amazing. I was in food heaven.
And what was great about this restaurant, was that the service was great. They replaced every fork and knife we used with each course, and were attentive to our needs, explaining each dish. Chef Sawyer himself even came out, explaining multiple dishes for us, and telling us where the ingredients came from.
I was even surprised with the candles they had used on the table. was really beef fat! But it made for great dipping for our bread (between our courses). «Everything is usable» they said.
Overall, I was stuffed after our pasta tasting (which, is not listed on their website– you have to call in and ask), which completed with a trio of desserts, including olive ice cream on amaretto, homemade yogurt + red currants + gianduja + danish, and apricots+ other fruits. We were STUFFED. But, seriously, Trentina is the best restaurant I have ever been to CLE. I dare say this may indeed challenge the high caliber places in NYC and LA… wow, it was so amazing.
Even the bathroom was nice– they had a bidet (which was even heated), along with a sink faucet with built in dyson fans INTO the faucet. Dude, I could have lived in that bathroom. I’ve never even seen a bidet in CLE before! Nice, very nice.
Overall, I was extremely impressed and highly recommend going to Trentina when you want to experience a world of amazing flavors. You don’t see this type of restaurant in CLE, and I applaud Chef Sawyer for Trentina. It definitely sets a new stage of foodieness in CLE… and I like it a lot. Amazing. Five stars to the max.