News and A Review

I had the foresight to purchase a Groupon for Osteria I Nonni in February in the hopes that Mike and I would have good news to celebrate at some point in time in the near future. Turns out we have had a lot of good news since the start of the year:

 

1. I got a new job
2. We sold Mike’s house
3. Bought our first house together

 

and we had an even better one to celebrate with an amazing dinner. Mike got a new job!!!! After 13 years of constant travel, he will finally be home on a regular basis. He accepted a VP position at a local company and will be starting April 26th. I am so proud of him for finding something the he will hopefully really like. The even better news about the job is that it is a few blocks from my office so he will have a super short commute. Now he will still be working VERY hard and a ton of hours but at least he will be in town more and we can start to work towards our version of normal.

 

In full celebration mode we took advantage of the Groupon and made reservations on Friday evening for one of the best Italian restaurants in the Twin Cities. Osteria I Nonni is known for authentic and upscale Italian food. I had only been there once a few years ago for a work dinner so this was our first trip to there for a special occasion meal. I met Mike at the restaurant since I went to a yoga sculpt class after work. Mike was already in the bar area enjoying a glass of wine when I arrived so I pulled up a chair and joined him.

 

 

 

We sat down around 8 and began intently studying the menu trying to decide what we each wanted. After much discussion we started with the Polipo (grilled octopus, fried potatoes, calabrian peppers)

 

In true Italian fashion we each got a Primi course. I opted for Gnocchetti (potato gnocchi, forest mushroom ragu, pancetta, pecorino). This was amazing, a rich and almost creamy ragu with perfectly cooked gnocchi.

 

 

Mike had a bucatini with wild boar that is not listed on their menu online, the ragu of the wild boar was thick and meaty and the bucatini was a great noodle match for the boar since it was thick and al dente.

 

 

 

 

For our Secondi course I had the Filetto (treccione encrusted beef tenderloin, cranberry-sage potato puree, rapini, grappa di barolo pan sauce). I was pretty full by this course but the meat was cooked perfectly and the cranbgerry-sage potato puree was the most unique potato dish I have ever tasted.

 

 

Mike ordered the Capesante (pan-seared maine sea scallops, forest mushrooms, arugula, scallions, carpano antica form). He ate about half and brought the rest home for leftovers which heated up very well. This was an amazing meal and one of the best we had since La Belle Vie.