Television Appearances • Press Clips • Press Releases
Television/Radio Appearances
» What to Eat, Channel 7's Eyewitness News June 9, 2006
» LL Dent Featured on Dining Out Long Island Television March, 2008 diningoutli.com
» Leisa Dent Featured on ABC's Viewpoint March 8, 2009
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WHLI 1100 AM Radio
Lillian Dent Featured on WHLI's "Playing With Fire With Tom Schaudel and Malibu Sue"
February 6, 2010
"Playing With Fire" includes interviews with local food and wine personalities, restaurateurs, authors and chefs. It's a source for tips on where to buy special ingredients, how to prepare them, where to dine and the appropriate wines to enhance the enjoyment of them.
KJOY 98.3 Radio
LL Dent Featured on KJOY 98.3 - March 21, 2008
(2.1 mb/2:24 min. mp3)
Press Clips
Press Releases
February 2, 2010 LL Dent Restaurant Hosts a Dinner & R&B Night
November 17, 2009 LL Dent Restaurant Hosts Radio Personality Ken Webb & Friends for a VIP Night
August 31, 2009 LL Dent Hosts Roosevelt High School's 30-Year Reunion
August 27, 2009 LL Dent Employees Takes a Tour of Local Vineyards
May 1, 2009 LL Dent Brings Its Southern Flair to Local Fundraiser
April 1, 2009 Lillian Dent Named as Nassau County’s “Woman of Distinction”
February 17, 2009 LL Dent Celebrates Its Third Anniversary
February 9, 2009 Chef Leisa Dent Shows Breast Cancer Survivors
the Path to Cooking Healthy
January 14, 2009 Leisa Dent Honored by Operation Get Ahead, Inc.
April 30, 2007 LL Dent Restaurateurs Lisa and Lillian Dent Honored
as Business Persons of the Year
August 7, 2006 LL Dent and 'Farmer Bill' Bring Green Tomatoes to L.I.
February 15, 2006 Authentic Home-Style Southern Restaurant to
hold Grand Opening Celebration on March 4
February 2, 2010
LL Dent Restaurant Hosts a Dinner & R&B Night
On February 2, LL Dent Restaurant hosted a Dinner & R&B Night in 'The Jazz Quarter.' Ken 'Spider' Webb invited some of his radio and show business friends. The live internet ‘webb-cast’ began at 7:30 pm and featured ‘Up Close and Personal,’ special guests in person, Ray, Goodman & Brown and Blue Magic. You can view the ‘webb-cast’ at: http://www.kenwebb.com/jazzcity.htm.
Streaming Audio
The event was “Webb-cast” — a live broadcast via the Internet on Mr. Webb’s own Web site: www.kenwebb.com. To view the streaming audio broadcast go to http://www.kenwebb.com/jazzcity.htm.
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November 17, 2009
LL Dent Restaurant Hosts Radio Personality Ken Webb & Friends for a VIP Night
On November 17, LL Dent Restaurant hosted a special meet-and-greet featuring radio personality Ken “Spider” Webb and some of his friends from radio and show business.
Mr. Webb invited fellow radio personalities Tony Richards and Mystery, as well as other VIPs and celebrities, to meet the listeners and enjoy LL Dent’s Southern-style specialties. There was also a guest DJ spinning old-school musical selections and jazz music.
Since the late 1960s, Mr. Webb has been one of New York’s most popular morning radio personalities. In July 1971, he became he very first radio ”morning man” for Manhattan’s WBLS-FM Radio. By 1983, WBLS had the No.1 position in the morning ratings. He later moved to WRKS-FM, where he gave the station its first No. 1 position in the morning ratings until 1995, when he returned to WBLS. In addition, he has worked at WLIB-AM, WWRL-AM and the former WQCD-FM (CD101.9).
Mr. Webb has also been involved in the community. He founded the KISS Kards and the WBLS Sure Shots benefit basketball teams to help raise money for local communities in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan areas and the Baltimore area, where he was raised. He has also used his shows to raise funds for numerous community organizations, ranging from community causes to needy families.
“We were very glad to have Mr. Webb and his friends come to the restaurant for this special night,” said Leisa Dent, Chef and Co-Owner, LL Dent Restaurant. “Those who attended this event got to meet the biggest names in radio and enjoyed the best Southern-style food here on Long Island.”
Streaming Audio
The event was “Webb-cast” — a live broadcast via the Internet on Mr. Webb’s own Web site: www.kenwebb.com. To view the streaming audio broadcast go to http://kenwebb.com/asx/channel_02_lldent.asx.
Flyers & Letter — http://66.29.59.120/wirgeneral/ll_dent_2_ff-1.wmv
Photo Gallery
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August 31, 2009
LL Dent Hosts Roosevelt High School’s 30-Year Reunion
On July 31, Leisa Dent, Co-Owner, LL Dent Restaurant,
hosted her former classmates from Roosevelt High School at the restaurant
for the school's 30-year reunion. Ms. Dent served up LL Dent's signature
Southern-style cooking while catching up with her classmates.
In addition, Ms. Dent and the Class of 1979 started a fundraiser, and a tree was planted in the front of The Roosevelt Middle School on August 1.
Pictured: Front row (left to right): Barbara Broyles, Bonnie Battles, Roberta Williams, Sandra Poole Laing, Pat Redd, Leisa Dent, Andrienne Vaughn-Wilson, Brenda Jones.
Middle row (l-r): James Brown, Donna Mc Lauren, Belinda Battle McNealey, Michelle Butler, Luctrica Lightfoot and Kenneth Frith.
Back row (l-r): Andrew Jones, Minister Jonathan Ballard, Gary Louis Charles, Kevin Fitchett, Mark Corry, Robert Murray and Rev. Darrell Gaskin.
Photo Gallery
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August 27, 2009
LL Dent Employees Takes a Tour of Local Vineyards
Carle Place, NY - On August 10, staff members of LL Dent received a special
tour and wine tasting at Pindar and Duck Walk Vineyards in Eastern Long
Island. The tour was conducted by Richard Drew, District Sales Manager, Duck
Walk Vineyards. Dr. Herodotus "Dan" Damianos, Owner, Pindar and Duck Walk
Vineyards, offered the invitation back in June, when he came to the
restaurant for dinner.
In April, LL Dent hosted "A Taste of Long Island," introducing a series of Long Island wines to complement its Southern-style menu items. Currently, LL Dent hosts three Long Island white wines (Pindar Johannesburg Riesling, Duck Walk Pinot Grigio and Duck Walk Southampton White); two red wines (Pindar Pythagoras and Duck Walk Gatsby Red); two blush (Pindar Summer Blush and Duck Walk Windmill Blush) and two dessert wines (Duck Walk Blueberry Port and Duck Walk Aphrodite).
Pictured: LL Dent Co-Owners Lillian Dent (top row, second from right) and Leisa Dent (center) and LL Dent employees show off their souvenirs from their trip to Pindar and Duck Walk Vineyards in Eastern Long Island.
Photo Gallery
Click on images for larger view. To scroll through the full-size images, use the arrow keys on your keyboard or hover over the image and select the "next" or "back" buttons that appear.
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May 1, 2009
LL Dent Brings Its Southern Flair to Local Fundraiser
LL Dent showed off its Southern-style cooking at the April 27 fundraiser, In Good Taste, at The Carltun in East Meadow. Restaurants from Long Island donated their signature dishes for this event, which were sampled by more than 200 people. LL Dent served up candied yams, collard greens and pulled pork. In Good Taste, now in its third year, is an annual fundraiser which benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Pictured: Leisa Dent (left), Co-Owner, LL Dent, poses with DJ Chef at the third annual In Good Taste fundraiser to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on April 27 at The Carltun.
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April 1, 2009
Lillian Dent Named as Nassau County’s “Woman of Distinction”
Lillian Dent, Co-Owner, LL Dent Restaurant, is pleased to announce that she will receive the 2009 Women of Distinction Award during the awards ceremony, “Women of Distinction in a Time of Great Challenges and Great Opportunities,” on April 6 from noon to 2 p.m. The event takes place at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive & Legislative Office Building at the Ceremonial Chamber on 1550 Franklin Avenue in Mineola, New York.
Ms. Dent is one of seven Nassau County businesswomen who are being awarded by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi in honor of Women’s History Month, which took place in March. John Moye, Executive Director, Nassau County’s Office of Minority Affairs, asked Ms. Dent if she would accept the nomination.
“I am very honored to receive this award from the county executive,” Ms. Dent said. “I would like to thank Mr. Moye for considering me for this award. It is wonderful to be recognized.”
For the past 24 years, Ms. Dent has been part of Central Nassau Club, where she has helped to design and implement programs to promote health, education and economic development in the central Nassau community. She is also the current president of Hausch Manor Civic Association, whose focus is providing scholarships for high school students and outreach to deserving families at holiday time.
After retiring in 2004 from The Dow Jones Company, where she worked for 30 years, she and her daughter Leisa decided to open a restaurant. In 2006, they opened up LL Dent, a full-service southern style restaurant that serves delicious dishes. LL Dent serves the community through involvement with several outreach programs such as Cooks for Kids and Young Entrepreneurs. The restaurant, under the direction of Ms. Dent, has been involved in cooking demonstrations to benefit suicide prevention programs, as well as for cancer survivors and domestic abuse victims.
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February 17, 2009
LL Dent Celebrates Its Third Anniversary
LL Dent celebrated its third anniversary with approximately 30 customers tonight. Chef Leisa Dent served up salmon croquette sandwiches, cheese and crackers, spinach dip and wine. As the cake was served, the customers joined in to sing “Happy Anniversary.”
Pictured right (left-right): Lillian Dent, Co-Owner, LL Dent; Racine Coles, Employee, LL Dent; Chef Leisa Dent, Co-Owner, LL Dent; and Mike Hamilton, Employee, LL Dent, celebrate the restaurant’s third anniversary on February 17.
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February 9, 2009
Chef Leisa Dent Shows Breast Cancer Survivors the Path to Cooking Healthy
Chef Leisa Dent of LL Dent presented “Healthy Cooking with a Southern Flair” to approximately 30 breast cancer survivors on February 9 at LL Dent Restaurant. The two-hour cooking demonstration was one of the “Path to Wellness” events offered by the Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program.
For the entrée, Ms. Dent prepared fried chicken that was cooked in the oven instead of deep-fried. She also prepared a variety of appetizing Southern-style side dishes such as grits, macaroni and cheese, stewed cabbage, broccoli, green beans, salad and salmon croquettes. For dessert, those in attendance were served sweet potato pie and chocolate-covered strawberries.
Pictured left: Chef Leisa Dent, Co-Owner, LL Dent (seated) displays the food she cooked for breast cancer survivors at the “Healthy Cooking with a Southern Flair” cooking demonstration on February 9 at LL Dent in Carle Place. Ms. Dent is joined by (left to right): Jo Marie Cook, LCSW, ACSW, Special Projects Coordinator, Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program; Wilma Carroll, Advisory Board Member, Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program; and Lillian Dent, Co-Owner, LL Dent.
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January 14, 2009
Leisa Dent Honored by Operation Get Ahead, Inc.
On January 15, Leisa Dent, Co-Owner of LL Dent, received an alumni business award from Operation Get Ahead, Inc. (OGA) at a ceremony which took place at the Marriott Hotel in Uniondale. Ms. Dent was a member of OGA as a teenager.
OGA is a non-profit community-based organization with an array of creative programs and services that assist youth with successful transition into adulthood.
Ms. Dent always had an interest in cooking since the age of 10. The Roosevelt High School graduate went on to BOCES, majoring in classical cuisine and catering. She later began working at Cooky’s Steak Pub in Hempstead.
Seeing cooking as only a hobby, she decided to pursue a career in the rapidly developing computer field. She enrolled in Howard University, majoring in computer science. Living off-campus, she took on the responsibility of cooking for her housemates. But she then decided against a career in computers and returned to Long Island to work in the restaurant industry.
In 1983, Ms. Dent left Cooky’s to work for her childhood friend, comedian/actor Eddie Murphy, as his personal chef in both Englewood, New Jersey and Hollywood, California. Growing up together, Mr. Murphy visited the Dent's home often, where Ms. Dent would be cooking meals for her friends.
Ms. Dent returned from Hollywood to pursue a chef/management position at Saks Fifth Avenue and Arizona 206 in New York City, and then for the Marriott Corporation in Uniondale. In 1990, she completed her formal training as a chef, earning an Associate's Degree at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She later relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as a Chef Supervisor and then as Executive Chef for Sodexho-Marriott and its client, Georgia Pacific. In 2003, she transferred back home, working for another Sodexho client, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, as a Marketing Manager.
VIEW VIDEO
http://pichadisnewsreel.ning.com/video/operation-get-ahead-mlk
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April 30, 2007
LL Dent Restaurateurs Lisa and Lillian Dent Honored
as Business Persons of the Year
Pictured (left to right) are Joanne E. Braxton, Northeast District Governor, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Clubs, Inc.; Chef Leisa and Lillian Dent, owners of LL Dent; and C. Yvette Long, President, Central Nassau Club. The two women were honored by the Central Nassau Club, of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, at their 48th Annual Founders’ Day Awards Luncheon on Saturday, April 14th. Recognized for their astute business sense and their contribution to the professional black women community, the mother-daughter team received the Business Persons of the Year Award. The award was presented by the president of the Central Nassau Club, C. Yvette Long, and the Northeast District Governor of the Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club, Joanne Braxton.
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August 7, 2006
LL Dent and 'Farmer Bill' Bring Green Tomatoes to L.I.
Rare Delicacy Comes to Carle Place Kitchen with the help
of Organic Green Thumb Farm Stand
Chef Leisa Dent, of the critically-acclaimed LL Dent restaurant in Carle Place with the help of Farmer Bill Halsey, of Green Thumb Organic Farm, is bringing fried green tomatoes, the scrumptious southern delicacy, to Long Island.
After having difficulty finding green tomatoes on Long Island, Chef Leisa decided to seek out an organic farm stand to help her bring the famous southern dish, fried green tomatoes to her Carle Place restaurant. The difficulty with finding green tomatoes is that most tomatoes are artificially colored for preservation purposes in supermarkets. Very few food distributors actually sell green tomatoes. Now thanks to Farmer Bill and Green Thumb farm stand, LL Dent will receive green tomatoes during the month of August while supplies last. Now Chef Leisa can bring more southern flair to her guests. The dish will be featured as an appetizer and served with a traditional horseradish dressing.
"Green Thumb's willingness to help out LL Dent is an example of the cooperative spirit that exists between Long Island businesses," Leisa Dent said. "At LL Dent, we had a need for green tomatoes and we went all over Long Island looking for a farm that would supply them. Finally we found Farmer Bill and the good folks at Green Thumb Organic Farm and finally we are able to bring fried green tomatoes to Long Island."
This newly formed relationship between Leisa and Green Thumb farm stand brings together one of the newest family-owned businesses on Long Island and one of the oldest. LL Dent, founded by Leisa and her mother Lillian, opened in February. Green Thumb has been operated by the Halsey family since the 1640s. Each year it produces over 300 varieties of certified organic vegetables, herbs, berries, and flowers.
"We at Green Thumb are proud to help do our part in giving LL Dent's menu even more of a southern flair," Halsey said. "It's unique to see green tomatoes grown on the East End served in a restaurant in Nassau County. It reinforces the importance of farming on Long Island and provides a reminder that Suffolk is still the leading agricultural county in New York State."
With the help of Green Thumb, Leisa Dent will share with her patrons a delicacy that folks in the south have known for years.
"Fried green tomatoes are such an important part of the fabric of southern culinary culture," Leisa Dent said. "You read about them in the book, you saw them in the movie, now you're going to be able to eat them here on Long Island at LL Dent Restaurant."
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February 15, 2006
Authentic Home-Style Southern Restaurant to hold Grand Opening Celebration on March 4th
Benefit for Winthrop Hospital Diabetic Education Center
Serving
authentic home-style American cuisine with a southern flair, LL Dent will hold
a grand opening celebration on Saturday, March 4th. Located at 221 Old Country
Road in Carle Place, LL Dent is the living realization of a life-long dream
of co-owners Lillian Dent and her daughter Chef Leisa Dent.
Following a private function earlier in the day, LL Dent will begin serving dinner at 5:00 p.m. 50% of the proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Winthrop Hospital Diabetic Education Center, in memory of Toby Dent, Lillian’s deceased husband.
The menu features many of Chef Leisa’s favorite dishes perfected over a lifetime and handed down through generations. Featuring a lunch and dinner menu Tuesday through Saturday, some of the items featured include Southern Fried Chicken entrées and Sandwiches, Catfish Entrees and Sandwiches, Collard Greens, Sweet Potato Pie and more. On Sundays, join the Dent family for a buffet-style all you can eat Sunday brunch and you’ll find yourself enjoying a tradition of southern hospitality and excellence.
Chef Leisa Dent was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Long Island 30 years ago. Her parents relocated to New York from Evans, Georgia, a small close-knit southern community. Leisa’s instinct for good homemade food began at age 10. Leisa’s first dish was a fried pork chop sandwich, which she asked her neighbor to taste, but it was quickly devoured, followed by her first non family compliment. Inspired by her mother and father along with summer trips to visit her grandparents in the south, Leisa enjoyed taking on the responsibility of preparing meals for her family.
After graduating from Roosevelt High School and BOCES, majoring in classical cuisine and catering, she began working at Cooky’s Steak Pub in Hempstead. In 1983, she left Cooky’s to work for Eddie Murphy as his personal chef in both Englewood, New Jersey and Hollywood, California. Murphy was a childhood friend who visited the Dent’s home often, where Leisa would cook meals for her friends. For him, Leisa’s cooking represented home-style excellence he longed for. Leisa returned from Hollywood to pursue her career as a chef. In 1990, she completed her formal training, earning an Associates Degree at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She later relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as a Chef Supervisor and then as Executive Chef for Sodexho-Marriott, its client, Georgia Pacific. In 2003, she transferred back home, joining Sodexho, as Food Merchandising Marketing Manager, she recently resigned to join her mother Lillian to create LL Dent.
For more information, visit www.lldent.com. The Carle Place restaurant opens on February 16th. Reservations can be made online or by calling LL Dent at (516) 742-0940.