The Guiltiest Pleasures 🫗 of NONI

I can’t exactly pinpoint the precise day that NONI came into my life–but I can say that it was early on in their inception. NONI became a visual representation of what I imagined fine food should be presented as, what it should look like. Not only in the small protein portions, colourful sauces and intricate plating; but in the playfulness, the experimentation of flavour and depth and also the thought behind each publicised dish. NONI’s Instagram was my guilty pleasure, I coveted every detail and I hoped that one day, my silly plan of trying every restaurant of worth on our islands would come to fruition. 

There are a hundred, thousand reasons why I love you NONI.

From a drooling spectator, I can say that NONI’s menus deliver the same level of intricacy and structure that I expected and imagined, for I am now a patron of that underground Republic Street restaurant that sparked the very joy that drives me today. Chef Jonathan Brincat is also not too shabby a human; in fact he’s pretty darn awesome and always manages to spark something in me whenever we find a chance to catch up. 

There are many aspects we can discuss when referring to our capital city’s NONI, perhaps the restaurant’s devotion to zero waste, their focus on elevating and rediscovering local staples, their whimsical instructions to partaking in specific dishes, or even the Front of House’s ability to get everything done without intruding on a diner’s meal–which is a hugely difficult feat to achieve in the restaurant’s tiny dining area (that you do not feel crowded in). 

It’s particularly hard for me to pinpoint one dish on NONI’s menu that stands out as the ultimate winner for me. Everything is thoughtful and accurate–the amuse bouche, in particular, as I’ve heard the servers whisper delicately in my ear every time I sit in that dimmed, Valletta room, “our local olive” is so good that I will not dare steal that experience from you. It keeps me awake at night. 

Another aspect of NONI’s menu, that has recently become a focus for the team, is their Drinks Menu. NONI’s wine list and cocktail menus have been around for a while, yes of course, but the Chef’s focus on non-alcoholic drinks is just genius. This takes me back to square one, where I’m ogling over the amazake, kombucha and lemonade now available on the menu… creating a threshold of achievement without even trying. You know I’m there Chef, can’t wait to try these. 

I’m not sober, I do enjoy the seldom drink here and there, but I’m really not a drinker at all. Especially if I’m ‘working’. 

My work is divided into quite a few parts, one of them being the experiential segment of bajtra, where immersing yourself in the journey of an experience gives it new life and a personal connection. This part of my journey is tying out that said experience, primarily in the form of a Tasting Menu where a multitude of dishes is presented at the hands of the kitchen and accompanied by wine to compliment and broaden the palate. A wine pairing, in some restaurants is game-changing. At NONI, you can go without and turn to a drink pairing that amplifies the Chef’s flavour profile per dish–I think this is astoundingly intelligent. 

If every restaurant had a non-alcoholic drinks pairing to accompany their Tasting Menus, I will, hand-to-heart, not even think twice about pairing with wine, hell yeah I’m going for the in-house fermented kombucha. More like this please. 

But if you’ve read through more than just this bajtra capsule, you’ll know that I’m here to give you a little more welly in this piece. I’ll take you back to a Happy Initiative event held at The Chophouse and organised by Briju’s Chef Rafel Sammut where the aforementioned restaurants and NONI came together to raise €6,200 in aid of the Ukraine war victims.

The restaurant was filled with patrons of the 3 restaurants together with others who supported the cause (and the food). Food was served on silver trays and scurried across the floor to tame the hungry crowds, but little did the kitchen know that serving up such delicious morsels of food would only make the crowd wilder, more ravished, ready for gluttony to take over. And like a puppet on a string, there you are chopping down on yet another NONI Tuna Burger, your third half, how did you get here Kris? 

That Tuna Burger was the catalyst to a myriad of things, some that I have not fully realised, some that just made me think differently. But this story, at this event, is not about the Tuna Burger… it’s about the classic, the iconic, the unique, the not easily replicated (guilty Noni, I’ve actually tried to kill this craving in my own kitchen… can’t control myself)... Te’ fit-Tazza. 

Silence please, everybody stand… NONI’s Te’ fit-Tazza is in the room. 

Right, where were we? Ah yes… so if you’ve been to NONI or follow their work, you’ll know that the FOH is headed by Ritienne Brincat, Chef’s sister and a stellar observer of what her patrons need and want during their meal. She was also observant at this particular event, observant of me… scraping the tea-infused pannacotta up the edge of that traditional tat-te’ glass, making sure I’ve saved some biscuit, some lemon cream… but most importantly having enough pannacotta to obliterate every tastebud with this overwhelmingly warm and homely feeling of tea. Ritienne watched me… she watched me demolish 1 Te’ fit-Tazza, she watched me reach for a second and succumb to the temptations of a third. I caught her eye, she smiled, she must have done this herself, that pannacotta is just too damn good.