Bar Lento brings a Verona-style wine bar to Eighth Avenue in Chelsea

Chelsea has a new slow-food Italian wine bar: Bar Lento opened Oct. 1 at 158 Eighth Avenue, near West 18th Street, Eater New York reported.

The name means "slow" in Italian — a pitch from Verona transplants Simone Viola and Chiara for a room built around Italian bottles, seasonal plates and garden seating rather than a rush-in rush-out bar, according to the restaurant's site and earlier coverage of their Community Board application.

What's on offer

Eater described a brick-framed backdrop with a garden, a wine list of whites, bubbles and pét-nats from Sardinia to Veneto, and seasonal plates such as bruschetta and fluke ceviche in a citrus-tomato vinaigrette. The couple's site says the Chelsea spot has both a covered garden usable year-round and an open garden when weather allows, plus a long counter and a light-filled dining room.

Bar Lento's website lists the address as 158 8th Ave (at W 18th St), Chelsea, New York, NY 10011, with phone and email contacts and a Resy widget for reservations. Service animals are welcome; the dining room is at street level on Eighth Avenue.

How it got here

Stark Stone Capital LLC d/b/a Bar Lento sought a restaurant wine license at the address before Manhattan Community Board 4 earlier this year, with Viola describing a small Italian menu of antipasti, primi, secondi and desserts and a patio. Eater added the opening to its October new-restaurant roundup after the Oct. 1 debut.

158 Eighth Avenue sits in a stretch of Chelsea already dense with dining; Bar Lento is pitching itself as a Verona living-room alternative rather than another high-volume corner spot.