Locked away in the heart of Lower Lawrenceville, the italian eatery, Senti, resides amongst a busy and lively crowd on Butler Street. Owned by Franco Braccia, the sleek and modern look of the restaurant glistened from the outside of the building. Given the profile of lower Lawrenceville, I believe that an Italian restaurant like Senti would fit in nicely. Upon walking through the door, I needed to take a moment to understand the layout and first impressions of the restaurant. When you walk in, it’s a large room designed with a few very comfortable and squishy lounge chairs for guests to sit and relax or kick your feet back and enjoy a cocktail hour after a long day at work. I was a bit thrown off by the color choice of the orange and green ottoman pin cushion seats, but I chose to look at it like a more modern take on design, which was giving off early 2000’s vibes. I really found an appreciation for the “Senti” sign as soon as you walked in. The font and color of the “Senti” sign were pleasing to look at and provided a satisfying depth when you first walked in. This front area was cool and gives the feel of a modern fusion design within the restaurant. Although we were seated for lunch, I can imagine that the LED sign provides a nightclub type of feel within that lounge space which seemed like a classy and pleasant place to relax with friends or partners in the evening.
I like that this space could allow people to meet others as these chairs are all sat around each other to potentially seat multiple groups, friends, or couples. I also really appreciated the booth style of seating that we were in, and appreciated how if you liked, you could be seated right next to the window to potentially do some people watching as you enjoy your meal. I think it’s an awesome spot with seating accommodations for all types of parties. I personally am not a fan of modern design and I could have appreciated a little more variety with the colors of the restaurant’s design pallet. In the dining room behind the bar where we sat, there were a few pieces of art, but mostly just white walls, white chairs, white table cloths, and everything just felt a little too clean and minimalistic for my personal taste. I felt quite worried to spill anything in the restaurant because of how pristine everything felt. While I can appreciate the more sophisticated and elegant look for an upscale restaurant, I was expecting something a bit cozier and warm which is okay.
Moving along, we were seated immediately upon arrival with our reservation and were served ice cold waters as we sat down to the table. We squeezed one extra person into our table and it was absolutely no issue and our waiter accommodated this extra seat with no complaints. Zac, our waiter, was friendly, attentive, and understanding. Throughout the whole dining experience his service was seamless and efficient. We waited about 5-10 minutes for Zac to deliver us some bread and we were not disappointed. The wait time was ideal as it gave us a nice break to chat in between courses. I believe there is such a thing as the food coming too fast, and this wait time allows us to have lots of time to get into a good conversation pace and digest throughout the meal.
As for the bread, this porous focaccia was dressed and coated in olive oil, generously garnished with rosemary and sea salt, and was warmed to my liking. It was a wonderful introduction to the meal ahead of us. I would definitely have enjoyed some accompaniments like butter, oil, or balsamic to go along with the bread, but it definitely has enough flavor to stand alone. They gave us a generous serving of bread in the first batch and then brought us another dish of bread that came out with our appetizers.
For my appetizer, I ordered the Arancini Cacio e Pepe. The warm, rich, and loaded center melts in your mouth and is held in shape by the crispy panko-like crunchy shirt. Dressed in a red bell pepper sauce drizzled, a sprinkle of cheese. Moving along the entree was delivered in a timely fashion and was quite delicious.
The main dish was a crisp and classic dish. It was a crunchy chicken cutlet sat atop a bed of 3 steamed seasonal carrots, accompanied by a charred lemon, and garnished with greens to top it off. This was certainly a lovely comfort food that hit the spot as the main course of the meal. The grilled lemon allowed me to personalize how citrusy I wanted the chicken to taste and definitely elevated the flavor of the chicken to be more zesty and savory. This dish had a well rounded taste, but a suggestion for the chef would be to potentially try to add a new twist on a more simplistic dish like a chicken cutlet, perhaps a nice sauce or dip to garnish it with . I would also recommend adding a few more carrots or veggies to supplement the dish as just three carrots felt a bit sparse.
To finish, the chocolate bread pudding was a rich delight. This warm delicacy was filled with joy on the inside and immediately satisfied my sweet tooth for the day. I captured the perfect bite when I scooped a spoonful of the vanilla bean ice cream with the delicious gooey chocolate bread pudding. This bread pudding had a wonderful flavor and the portion size was appropriate for one to savor on their own or to be split amongst friends. I appreciated the decorative cocoa powder sprinkled around the dish and how well rounded this dessert was. The vanilla ice cream complemented the contrasting dark chocolate flavor, the bread itself was thick and easy to cut through cleanly, and the warm melted center tied everything together.
Overall this restaurant did a wonderful job at serving and displaying classic comfort food in an elegant and tasty manner. I would venture back to Senti if I had the chance again, and I was very impressed with the service, food, and cleanliness of the restaurant. Thank you Senti for a wonderful outing and meal.