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Lento Food Identity independently reviewed
Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

Lento

A fully plant based restaurant on Hasselt's Zuivelmarkt, where a new three to six course menu is written every six weeks around the organic vegetables in season.

Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

Lento

A fully plant based restaurant on Hasselt's Zuivelmarkt, where a new three to six course menu is written every six weeks around the organic vegetables in season.

The essentials, at a glance


Documented practices
Independently
reviewed
Seasonal cooking
Plant-forward menu

Documented practices

Seasonal cooking Menu rebuilt every six weeks with seasonal vegetables
Plant-forward menu 100% plant-based kitchen, vegetables lead every course

Style
Fine dining
Cosy
Cuisine
Asian
Fusion
Mediterranean
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide

The delicious details

Lento takes its name from the Spanish word for slow, and the kitchen works to that tempo. The restaurant opened in 2018 to show that a plant based meal can be generous in its own right rather than a substitute for anything.

There is no à la carte. Guests choose between three and six courses, and chefs Yolan and Filipe write a new menu every six weeks around the organic vegetables in season. Everything on the card, drinks included, is vegan.

The dining room is small and cosy, running a single sitting on weeknights and two on Friday and Saturday evenings. Every dish is naturally free of dairy, and a gluten free option is always offered.

Menu
What's on the table, and what's left off

Lento serves fully plant-based set menus of three to six courses, entirely rewritten every six weeks around organic vegetables in season. There is no à la carte. Everything on the card, including drinks, is vegan. Japanese technique sits alongside a Mediterranean accent in the two chefs' cooking.

Cooking is entirely plant based, and vegetables carry the plate rather than filling in around a centrepiece. The format is a set menu of three to six courses, rewritten every six weeks as the season moves on, with a two course lunch on Saturdays.

The autumn menu runs celeriac with ragù and hazelnut, then pumpkin with buckwheat, rosemary and ponzu, and closes on a pear posset with lemon, black sesame and butterfly pea. Extra courses such as pulled lion's mane with radish, lime and nori can be added to any menu, and wine or botanical juice pairings are offered alongside.

Japanese technique sits next to a Portuguese and Mediterranean accent, reflecting the two chefs in the kitchen. Every dish is free of dairy and eggs, a gluten free version can be requested when booking, and other allergies are accommodated with notice.

Cuisine

Asian
Fusion
Mediterranean

Dietary options

Vegetarian options
Fully plant-based
Gluten-free options
Dairy-free options
Allergies & intolerances
How this kitchen handles the EU-14 allergens
Handled on request
Public sources point to a working level of allergen accommodation, but no dedicated preparation area. Treat this as a starting point and confirm directly.
Allergens named on public sources
ShellfishFishMolluscsMilkEggsGluten
Ask about any allergen not shown. Kitchen separation isn't published. Ask directly if you need a trace-free dish.
Coeliac diet: A gluten-free menu option is always available and can be requested when booking.
Always confirm your allergy directly with the restaurant when booking.
Researched from public sources · restaurantlento.be · not yet confirmed by the restaurant
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
3 - Endorsed

Seasonal cooking is structural at Lento rather than decorative: the entire menu is rewritten every six weeks around the organic vegetables available at that point in the year, with no fixed card running alongside it, and each menu carries the dates it applies to.

The kitchen is plant based from end to end. Vegetables, legumes, grains and fruit carry every course, and the drinks are vegan too, so no meat, fish, dairy or eggs are bought at all.

Lento is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, the European guide to vegetable led cooking, which describes it as a 100% vegetable restaurant. It has twice won the Belgian Vegan Award for best restaurant.

The impact dimensions

Local & direct sourcing

Seasonal cooking

Sustainable animal products

n/a

Social impact

Plant-forward menu✓

The restaurant sources all vegetables and fruit from local organic farmers, but no individual grower or farm is named.

The restaurant sources all vegetables and fruit from local organic farmers and is stated to work with certified organic farms. No individual grower, farm or wholesaler is named on the restaurant's website, in the menu, in any team description or in editorial coverage, so the sources cannot be independently traced.

The kitchen's emphasis on local organic sourcing is consistent across its own channels, but naming even one grower would lift the sourcing level to full traceability.

Strongest sourcerestaurantlento.be ↗

Chefs rewrite the entire menu every six weeks around the seasonal organic vegetables available at that point, with no fixed à la carte running alongside it.

The restaurant runs a set menu format only, with no à la carte, and completely rewrites it every six weeks around the organic vegetables in season. The current menu is dated with its run period, showing this is an active rotation rather than seasonal language on a static card.

The practice has been running since at least 2019, and the rhythm is the core principle the restaurant's own description and the chefs' approach both centre on.

Strongest sourcerestaurantlento.be ↗

Lento is fully plant-based; the kitchen serves no meat, poultry, fish or seafood at all.

Lento is a fully plant-based kitchen. Everything on its menu, including every drink, is 100% vegan, and the published menus carry no meat, poultry, fish or seafood in any course or supplement. The We're Smart Green Guide listing describes it as a 100% vegetable restaurant, and the restaurant has twice won the Belgian Vegan Award.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗

The restaurant is owner-founded and owner-run, and offers bespoke workshops and lectures on plant-based eating to the community.

Lento was founded in 2018 and is still owned and run by Yolan Bamps and Tekla Vancleynenbreugel. The team page tells the story of the staff who have joined since, including a barman in 2021 and a second chef in 2025 who brought Japanese technique to the kitchen.

The restaurant runs bespoke vegan workshops and lectures for students on the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, positioning itself as a resource for the community's engagement with plant-based eating.

Strongest sourcerestaurantlento.be ↗

Every course and every drink on the menu is vegan; vegetables, legumes, grains and fruit carry the whole menu rather than appearing beside a central protein.

Lento is a fully plant-based restaurant. Every course and every drink on the menu is vegan, and vegetables, legumes, grains and fruit carry the whole menu rather than appearing beside a central protein. The current autumn menu runs celeriac with ragù and hazelnut, pumpkin with buckwheat and ponzu, and closes on a pear posset with lemon and black sesame.

The We're Smart Green Guide describes it as a 100% vegetable restaurant. Gault&Millau Belgium describes it as a plant-based restaurant with a southern accent. The restaurant has twice won the Belgian Vegan Award for best restaurant, and the two chefs' approach combines Japanese technique with Mediterranean and Portuguese accents.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗
Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Zuivelmarkt 34, 3500 Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
Set menus, advance booking required
Hours
MondayClosed
Tuesday17:30–21:00
Wednesday17:30–21:00
ThursdayClosed
Friday17:00–22:00
Saturday11:30–14:00, 17:00–22:00
SundayClosed
Style
Fine dining
Cosy
Web
restaurantlento.be
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 07 Oct 2026
Reserve To website
Link copied
How we score
The My Treats impact scale

Every restaurant is assessed against SEERO, our six-dimension sustainability framework — covering sourcing, seasonality, waste, animal products, social impact, and plant-forward cooking. Each finding is weighted by how strongly it is corroborated. The combined result is translated into an impact score from 1 to 5.

The five levels

SEERO is an acronym for Starting, Engaged, Endorsed, Recognised, Outstanding:

Starting First verified signals of sustainable practice.
Engaged Credible practice across two dimensions.
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
This place
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
Outstanding Top-tier practice, confirmed by recognised third-party audit.

How a level is reached. Each level needs two things together: a minimum number of dimensions covered, and a minimum overall strength of evidence across them. A dimension only counts once its evidence is specific and substantiated — a passing mention doesn't qualify. Meeting only one of the two keeps a restaurant a level lower.

Scores of four or five require human validation and, at the top tier, an external audit. Scores are based on publicly available evidence and restaurant submissions at the time of assessment.

Full methodology→
Impact dimension
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How this dimension works
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How evidence is weighted
Self-declared Stated by the restaurant on its website, menu or in a submission. Plausible, but not yet independently corroborated.
Researched Found through independent research; one credible third-party source backs the claim.
Vouched Corroborated across more than one independent source. Some gaps may remain.
Audited Fully corroborated across independent sources or by a recognised third-party certification.
What the sourcing checkmarks mean
✓ Full check — independently verified: corroborated across more than one source, or audited / third-party certified (vouched or audited).
✓ Light check — self-declared or from a single source. Not yet independently verified.
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