A rarely-busy resto in Baldwin Village. Use this to your advantage as it's a decent place to go on a date. The lighting is dim, the atmosphere is "smoove" (marble top tables, easy listening on the airwaves), and the service is just attentive enough. You won't mind if you're only one of a few couples in here.
Valens's menu is centred around Italian fare but they have a variety of different cuisines represented. Their wine list is made up of options from mostly Niagara and California, and they also offer basic cocktails. I wasn't knocked out of my seat.
For dinner I enjoyed a lamb shank ($22) with mashed potatoes and roast vegetables a butternut squash and almond soup to start ($6). The name of the soup sounds better than it actually was. I felt like they might have even used a chicken stock as the base (can't be sure though). At any rate, it wasn't in my top ten butternut squash soups list. The lamb shank was meaty, tender, and a sizeable portion. Really enjoyed the peppercorn gravy it was served with.
Other than that, I think Susan G nailed it in her review: "a quiet place with no wait on a Saturday night" that serves reasonably priced and good food.
Obligatory Title Pun: Table for TU, BRUTE?
Menu Readability: Very plain. Serif typeface. Probably Roman.
Need to mention: Valens (328-378), was a Roman Emperor who led his army to a catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Adrianople.
What this place teaches me about myself: It sounds weird to say I'm boning up on my Roman history, doesn't it?