Osteria I Nonni - MSP
For New Years Eve, Mr. H and I decided to do a course meal again, since the last one we did on Thanksgiving (at Enjoy!) was a hit. This time, we really saved money and I gave Mr. H 3 suggestions and put it in his hands to surprise me. He chose Osteria I Nonni, as they had a choice of either a 4 course meal ($55 per person) or a 6 course. We chose the 4 course meal, and they had some great choices. I did not take pictures at this meal, so forigive me.
Upon entering Osteria I Nonni, I was a little uncomfortable. It's VERY white tablecloth. I'm not opposed to upscale dining, but this was really upscale. Everyone there was dressed really fancy, and the air of the place is very sophisticated. I felt pretty out of place. Regardless, we went to sit down.
We arrived a little late (at 10 pm) and I was not feeling the greatest. I was hoping to be out of there by 1130, in time to get to a New Years Eve event and ring in the new year. I thought an hour and a half would be plenty of time, even for a four course meal, so we settled in. We were offered ice or bottled water, and then waited about 10 minutes for our server to come.
The menu offers a few options for each course: the first being a salad, the second being a small pasta or meat plate, the third being a main course, and the last being dessert. All are offerings off thier regular menu. For my "asseggini", I chose:-
garden lettuces, honey crisp apple, gorgonzola dolce, pistachio, cider vinaigrette.
I don't remember what Mr. H ordered, but it was like a meatball, with breading on the outside, in a tomato sauce.
We waited probably around 10 minutes, and the food came. I must say, I was really disappointed in my salad. The vinagrette was so tart my mouth puckered, the greens were loose and the nuts were hard to handle and I had to put them on my fork by hand. There were about 3 thin apple slices that just kinda...sat there. The gorgonzola however, was in a chunk, allowing you to cut it with each bite, which was good. The size was perfect (small) but overall, I did not enjoy this.
Mr. H's dish however, was very good. The sauce was very tangy and tomatoey, and the meatballs were savory.
For our "secondi", I opted for the:
house-made gnocchetti “alla vaccinara” oxtail ragu, pecorino romano.
And Mr H:
linguettealla vongole manila clams, garlic, white wine.
We waited around 10-15 minutes for this 2nd course, which in my opinion is too long. I understand food takes time to cook, but in a course meal, timing is essential. When it finally came, I must say I enjoyed this a lot. The gnocchi were light, and not dense. I found myself wishing for a little more toothsome-ness. The sauce was very savory, and with a hint of nutmeg or cinnamon perhaps? The oxtail was like a mild roast beef, and very generous and flavorful. This dish came out piping hot, so I'm sure it was very fresh. Mr. H's dish was very salty, and suprisingly it was also very spicy. The linguine was al dente, but kind of "crisp" on one end of the bite I got, which was a turn off.
For our main course, I ordered:
chicken “saltimbocca” asparagus, lemon-caper butter
Mr. H got:
pan seared maine scallops grilled scallions, wild mushrooms, vermouth
This time around, we waited about 20 minutes, and it was already 11:15. I was getting very nervous and upset about the time it was taking. I realize that course meals take time, but a 4 course meal should not take over an hour to be cooked and executed. For one, the food settles in and you get full. By this time, I was very full. And anxious, I felt like I was forced to sit there and wait all this time. At Enjoy!, we had a 3 course meal that was timed well, and we ended up sitting and chatting for well over an hour after the food was gone. Because we WANTED to. See the difference? During this wait, a table near us was given new food by what I assumed to be an owner/manager. I'm not sure what happened, but something went wrong. Anyhow, our food came at around 11:20. I ate about 4 bites of my chicken and was too full to continue. What I did manage to eat was good. Not great. The "lemon caper" sauce did not taste of lemon - but the chicken was crisp on the outside and the proscioutto came through well. Overall, it was quite salty. I also ordered a Winter Bellini (prosecco with rumsoaked cranberry) which tasted strangely of cinnamon.
Mr. H Scallops came, and were cold in the middle. He had to send them back, and we waited 10 more minutes for them to come back. I will admit, the scallops when cooked correctly were the best thing I ate that night. Butter, creamy, and pure velvet. The sauce was earthy and mellow and overall it was a great dish.
We ordered our desserts and my remaining food to go. I ordered the cheesecake, and Adam ordered the budino cake. We were extremely full, and at this point I as not going to make it to my New Years Eve event. While we waited, the table near us was leaving, and the server informed them that due to the mistake, all their drinks were being comped. When our check came, we were offered nothing for being served cold scallops.
Overall, I was very disappointed. Maybe I'm not "sophisticated" or rich enough, but the food was very mediocore and the wait time was way too long. For me to spend that much money on a meal is quite a task, and I feel like I threw my money in the street. Admittedly, I was in a bad mood for not making it to the NYE countdown. I was eagar to leave, and got to my event at around 12:30 AM.
Greats:
-Pretty interior - kind of rustic but sophisticated
-Scallops were very good
Not so greats:
-The wait time
-Being served cold scallops, having to wait more and then not being offered anything for it
-Atmosphere is a bit too uppity for me
http://www.inonnirestaurant.com/
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I Nonni
981 sibley memorial hwy, Lilydale, MN 55118
By greenidentity
on Jan 1, 2010 08:09 PM
View »
I'm sorry you had a bad experience food wise but I have to disagree about the timing of a 4 course meal. If a restaurant tried to serve me 4 courses in an hour I would be pretty upset and probably request that they slow it down.
Did you let the server know that you had time constraints and would like the courses sped up? I think the expectation is that when enjoying a tasting menu it is a slower affair and maybe they would have been open to speeding things up if they knew you were getting anxious.
Regarding the food, I've only been to I Nonni once and didn't love it either.
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It is unfortunate that you did not experience what you expected, but in fairness, a 1000 reservation for a 4-course meal should encompass 2+ hours. And in jfood's opinion 15-20 minutes between courses is what he expects. Likewise $55 for that menu is a good price on a normal night and on NYE he considers that a steal.
Jfood understands the chef may be different than when jfood ate there over a year ago and he is due to return. He found the room beautiful and one of the most romantic dining rooms in MSP. So to each their own.
Thank you for the review. And jfood very much appreciates the link. They have a 3-course design your own dinner event that jfood needs to get back there and try.
Happy New Year.
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Well maybe I did expect too much after all. I'm not too experienced with course meals, but the ones i have had were faster. Regardless, the food did not thrill me. And the overall experience had more cons than pro's. I wanted to like the place since it has tons of excellent reviews, but I just didn't.
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Never let the fact that your taste doesn't always match others bother you. There is a certain board favorite that I've been disappointed with in the 3 times I've been there. Nothing horrible, but it's off my list despite the fact that everyone here raves about it. There are too many other good places I'd like to try (or return to) instead of going back again to a place that has disappointed.
It would be a boring and quiet board if everyone agreed about everything.
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Amen to diversity of taste and opinion. (Except when it differs from mine. Just kidding.) If I didn't find it so negative, I'd almost suggest we need a 2010 edition of "Most Controversial Opinion" just to remind us all that difference of opinion is completely ok. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/3513...
There are some board "favorites" that I don't love, and some places I love that aren't board favorites. Such is life.
~TDQ
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When it comes to food, those who are expecting a lot tend to favor their experiences over those who don't know what to expect. This is counter-intuitive, but true. As such, your comments carry more weight for the reason that you had high expectations.
On the timing issue. A restaurant that takes 10p resos on New Years Eve assumes that you are going to kick of the New Year with them. If I made such a reservation, I would be fairly annoyed if my meal ended at 11:20.
Prosecco features pretty strong aromatics, and a rum-soaked cranberry will only enhance them. That probably explains the cinnamon.
Other than that, your food observations are reasonable and relatable. There is no excuse for cold food, crispy noodles or sour vinaigrettes. If that's what you had, then you should let people know. It's not like anyone is out there looking for lukewarm, crispy crap. It's not a matter of opinion.
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One of these days we are going to go back to I Nonni and see what we think of the new chef.
I Nonni used to be our go-to Italian place if we wanted Italian-Italian, not red sauce Italian-American. We only went there for fairly special occasions so we knew it would be a fancier-than-usual kind of experience. We always loved it, but who knows these days, if it's very different what with the change in staff, no idea. But we also have, I think, very high standards for this kind of Italian and pretty much won't go to La Grolla or Al Vento or the like cos they don't meet our standards & we end up miserable. Meanwhile, we also love the various red sauce & pizza type places, especially in St Paul- Red's Savoy Inn, Mama's, Little Oven...
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turtlebella-
you contrast 'Italian -Italian' with "Italian- American red sauce' I think the red sauce style is Sicilian, not necessarily invented in America. Some of the earliest immigrants to the US were from Sicily, and opened red sauce/pizza joints. Later we got more Northern Italian places , with a different style. Both are Italian. (although the Sicilians perhaps feel they are their own nation separate from Italy) And of course there are more than just two regions of Italy............I am simplifying for purposes of this board.
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oh totally agree, and much of what we think of as Italian is Sicilian in origin and not created here.
But I also think of places like Red's and Little Oven as being rather uniquely Italian-American even more than authentically Italian. Kind of like many Mexican places are really more Mexican-American than Mexican, even though they aren't called Mexican-American. Or even many Chinese places that are really more Chinese-American and not anything you'd actually find in China. Over time, these kinds of cuisines have become differentiated from what you'd find in the home/old country. That's not a bad thing, either, it's just different. That's why I call it Italian-American.
Places like Osteria I Nonni do feature cuisine from the north and other parts of Italy (and I have been much encouraged of late to note that some Puglian cuisine is getting featured more at Italian places), as well as from the south, and moreover I think of as places that are interested in presenting a more authentic interpretation - and reflecting the richness - of Italian cuisine. That's not really what red sauce places are after, I don't think. I could be wrong.
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turtlebella- what do you think of Al Vento? They seem like they are going for a more authentic but strictly Southern Italian cuisine. whoops now I see that you mentioned Al Vento as not coming up to your standards. could you elaborate please?
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I'm sorry to hear you were dissapointed. My husband and I also ate at I Nonni for New Years eve, although we chose the 6 course and each one was wonderful - Its hard to say if the highlight was the gnocchi with lobster & truffkes, the yellow beet & king crab salad or the melt-in-your-mouth tender lamb chops. We were there for a long time, but with a special occasion, and a multi course meal I expect for them to give time between courses to allow you to savor your food and not feel stuffed or rushed.
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