Good thing I beat the Human Engineer to lunch; I was able to grab seats at the bar, the only spots left without a reserved tag. Within minutes, the lunch hour struck and the execs piled in, packing the tables around the circular bar at Leña’s centre.
Do you have a palate refined enough to appreciate the subtle and no doubt nuanced refinements that Iberico ham presents? No? You’re not one of those hundred or so people? Than skip the plate of ten slices for twenty dollars. Bloody waste of money for poor presentation and wanting flavour.
An inoffensive tagliatelle for me, and a cannelloni that resembled a provincial ratatouille for the Engineer. My drink was another twenty down, a mix of grapefruit, gin, and flash-torched lime wedge dubbed the Pink Panther: Pretty, but we were both thrilled our waiter, a tall, vested fellow overseeing a nervous, barback with sharp black bangs on her first day, forget to bill us for the drinks. Neither my Pink Panther nor the Engineer’s prosecco left much of an impression.
Unless you’re expensing this lunch to a client or a Corp, don’t bother. The scenery outside the tall glass windows is elegant and the setting inside bright and austere, but the food was unsurprising, unmemorable, and led to a much lighter wallet than one would hope.
Leña Restaurante
176 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M5C 2L7