Big things are expected when a man from Manresa drops a new restaurant in Aptos Village, and Mentone didn’t disappoint. It was only a couple of years before Mentone became synonymous with Michelin and earned a coveted Bib Gourmand.
You’d never know by the menu, which is literally the most understated thing I’ve ever read, but this Franco-Italian bistro is fire.
Focaccia. Fennel, sea salt.
A dough full holes so perfectly aerated that you can bite through the entire slice and only touch the perfectly chewy center once. The fennel is so fragrant, an anise-kissed breath brushed with sea salt. Even the world’s pickiest toddler ate an entire order.
Root Vegetable Carpaccio. Kohlrabi, radish, walnut oil.
Did a Chinese tiger mom stand there while they wrote this? Yes, it’s just plate of razor-thin, laser-cut radish at a glance, but the depth of this dish is indescribable. Each slice carries a significant smoke, and a few folded bits send ash up your nose for a savory quality that makes it almost a vegetarian wagyu. The walnut oil adds an oomph to it all, especially the chopped bed to barely-pickled turnip beneath that faintly channels Chinese mustard.
They do powerful things with vegetables here, and that appetizer is just a preview. The Pansotti is a ravioli resembling a flattened wonton filled with almost-puréed green stuff, a strong leaf like a fresh-cut spinach-grass. Walnut pesto, another understatement of the century; a cream sauce made with crack for a confidently nutty, soupy success.
These dishes will not soon be forgotten, but it’s pizza that makes them popular. The Sardenaira is soaked with ripe tomato sauce, seasoned with salty olive. A single squiggle of sardine permeates an entire slice, and I’ve never know a crust so chewy. This one has so much spring, your jaw will literally rebound.
Imagine a spicy pepperoni pizza for grown-ups as the Soppressata steps up. Salami sizzles and Calabrian chilies pack the heat. Cheese and sauce are pure perfection, but still the crust is key.
Michelin has disappointed me more than once, but Mentone did not. Mentone manifests mastery with a manner most modest and refined. I’ve had so much fine dining, yet Mentone still makes things I’ve never seen. I can still honestly say I’ve never had a better [fill-in-the-blank with literally anything I ate] than the one I got at Mentone.
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