Title: Nov 2, 2012
Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: ENU

Nonni's Bistro
425 Main St., Pleasanton, CA
www.nonnisbistro.net 
Review date: November 2012

We drove out to Pleasanton to have dinner with our friends Mel and Christie. We've already tried several of Pleasanton's downtown restaurants. Oasis Grill was our first discovery through Mel and Christie, although it seems to have declined a bit. We enjoyed Agora in February 2012 but sadly, it closed soon afterwards. In April 2012 we tried the Italian trattoria Forno Vecchio, which we thought good if not exceptional. 

Nonni's and the new Turkish Lokanta were still on our list to try. In checking out the menu I saw that they had a few Scandinavian dishes, so Nonni's won out. Not many, but it's rare to find any traditional Scandinavian foods in Northern CA. Mel and Christie are starting to explore seafood, and were willing to experiment with some foods new to them.

Walking in just after Nonni's opened, we chose a table by the windows. The waitress was excellent – cheerful, efficient, and solidly professional, keeping an eye on the dining room overall even as it started to fill up.

Intrigued by the appetizer sampler platter labeled "Thor", we ordered it to share (yes, we're all Marvel Comic fans!). A flat, rectangular rock serves as a platter to hold an assortment of classic Scandinavian preserved fish and a liver pate. Everything was on top of a heap of baby arugula, which Carlos and I ate as Mel and Christie don't care for it.

There was an aggressively cold-smoked salmon in a generous slice – think of gravlox with a hickory accent. Carlos liked this, I was so-so on it. Mel and Christie didn't think it measured up to the amazing smoked salmon from Seattle's Pike Place Market.

The liver was cooked, ground and formed into a thick round. Roasted until dark brown and crispy on the outside, it had a nice semi-crumbly texture. It tasted more like a milder pork or veal liver as opposed to a stronger-flavored beef liver. Carlos and I liked this. Christie was okay with it, Mel didn't want to try it.

There were three kinds of pickled herring salads. Carlos, Mel and Christie had never tried pickled herring before. I was familiar with it, having grown up with a mother who lived with a Swedish family in Minnesota during WWII. We were probably the only Japanese-American household in the entire city of Chicago that had a jar of pickled herring in sour cream and a wedge of stinky Liederkranz cheese in our refrigerator, at all times.

One salad was the pickled herring by itself. Carlos liked this best. All three salads used very good quality pickled herring; not overly "fishy" or sour. The second salad had beets, cream, and sliced onions added. This was Carlos' second choice, as well as mine.

The third salad got Mel, Christie, and my vote for the best, whereas Carlos liked it the least. This salad drained the pickled herring well, then mixed it with a curry mayonnaise for a great flavor combination.

Carlos also ordered a bowl of the soup special, which was black bean, lime and coconut. Certainly not European, but it had a wonderful flavor and I promised Carlos I would try to duplicate this at home. As it turns out, chef-owner Magnusson lived for a year in Brazil, which accounts for this unusual but excellent soup on his menu.

Mel's entree of wild shrimp gnocchi was a very generous bowlful, with a rich brown cream sauce. She was very pleased with this. Christie and Carlos chose the beef stroganoff over fresh linguine. It is topped with sour cream and Parmesan(!) – the first time I've ever encountered the latter in connection with a stroganoff. Carlos opted out of the sour cream, Christie chose both. Christie enjoyed her entree, but Carlos was a little less enthusiastic. He found the beef a bit chewy, and prefers a creamier sauce. 

I picked the mahi-mahi special. Sadly, this was the weakest of the four, afflicted by what I like to call the Kitchen Sink Syndrome. KSS is strongly related to KISS, and it means that the chef would done better if at least three, possibly four or five, of the ingredients used had left out.

None of the other entrees were heavily salted, which pleased Mel, Christie, and Carlos. All that missing salt landed on my two thin, slightly overcooked mahi-mahi filets. They were criss-crossed over a messy heap of:

1.	Sliced boiled fingerling potatoes, a mix of white and purple varieties. There was no salt on them so they were rather tasteless.
2.	A heap of peppery heat-wilted arugula.
3.	An oddly acidic red bell pepper beurre blanc. 
4.	Small tart pomelo segments and chopped oyster mushrooms were mixed into the sauce. Neither flavor complemented anything, especially the pomelo.
5.	On top was a lavish garnish of crunchy pomegranate seeds and chopped mint – a BIG handful. You couldn't take a bite off the plate without getting lots of crunch.
6.	A side garnish of baby red-stemmed radish leaves.

There was way too much going on, none of which was positive. I have no idea what the chef was trying to do with this dish. It wasn't European or Brazilian or American. It was just an unhappy mix of flavors that didn't want to blend and couldn't have made anything good if they had.

Outside of this mish-mash, the other entrees were good. We liked the appetizer platter and soup best. The menu at Nonni's ranges afield and although our dinner wasn't a complete success, it would be interesting to come back and try some of the other dishes, such as the goat cheese crepe, carpaccio, and coq au vin. 

Mel and Christie had an apricot pie at home for us to help eat up, so Carlos and I settled for cups of coffee to end.

Four people, dinner: appetizer platter, one soup, four entrees, four beverages, with tip was $155. Normally the "Thor" platter is for a market pricing for two people; since there were four of us they gave us a double platter amount, for $16.