All hail the pasta gods: Chef Cameron Slaugh is bringing Northern Nights back to Nonna Mercato after debuting the concept to acclaim last year. If you plan to get a seat, consider this your friendly warning to move quickly when reservations open on Nov. 4.
Because we’ve been here before.
When Chef Cameron announced the first winter edition of his much-loved dinner series last year, the tables sold out almost immediately. And after experiencing that dinner—with its hand-rolled pastas, flowing wine, and dining room dressed for the season—I can understand why, especially given Chef Cameron is unquestionably the patron saint of pastas. (Even Selva uses his pasta rather than making their own for its Fuego Lento nights.)
A love affair with Northern Italy highlights the upcoming dinner series at Nonna Mercato.
This year’s Northern Nights will take a different form: a seven-course winter tasting menu exploring the food and traditions of Northern Italy. In an announcement video, Chef Cameron says the series will give diners an opportunity to slow down, explore different flavors, and experience the region across those seven courses.
“Northern Nights is a love affair with the region,” he says, naming Emilia-Romagna, Friuli, Piedmont, and Liguria among its influences, much like last year.
And for anyone who has followed Chef Cameron’s work at Nonna, that regional focus should feel familiar. His dinner series have given him and his team room to explore Italian cooking in ways that stretch beyond the bakery and restaurant’s daytime offerings—from the southern Italian inspirations of this year’s Summer Nights to last winter’s exploration of Italy’s north.
Seven courses (and many stories) will grace this year’s Northern Nights series at Nonna Mercato.
For Chef Cameron, the draw of Northern Italy is the variety within it: the rich pasta traditions of Emilia-Romagna, Alpine influences, the elegance of Piedmont, and Liguria’s coastal traditions.
“You can really feel that history in the food,” he said.
Each course, he explains, is meant to tell a story about where a dish comes from, the tradition behind it, and how these regions developed their own styles of cooking. It’s an approach that gives diners a chance to experience both the differences among those places and the connections between them.
The full menu has not been detailed in the announcement, so it’s too early to say precisely which dishes will appear. But if last year’s Northern Nights is any indication of the care the Nonna team brings to the table, there is plenty of reason to be excited.
Last year’s Northern Nights showcased a different side to Nonna Mercato, both aesthetically and culinarily.
Decked out in handmade wreaths and the winter air, dinner began with shared spuntini: Baked tomino cheese with honey. Speck. Rye focaccia. Pickled vegetables. Ricotta gnocchi with an inky black trumpet mushroom ragù. Hand-cut tajarin with butter, pecorino, and Piedmont black truffle. And Chef Cameron’s tortellini en brodo, little handmade pockets filled with mortadella, prosciutto, and parmesan, served in a delicate broth.
While those were last year’s dishes, they help explain why I left that dinner convinced Nonna should always be open for dinner—and why Chef Cameron remains my proudly anointed Dean of Pasta.
Why dinner at Nonna Mercato matters
Watching Chef Cameron work a sheet of dough with his mattarello—rolling, lifting, checking its translucence, and rolling again—is to understand the attention behind the food. The shapes that emerge, from tajarin to tortellini, are a reflection of his curiosity about Italian cooking and the traditions that inform it.
What excites me most is that this version of Northern Nights gives us a much longer canvas for his work. Seven courses give the kitchen space to move from one region and idea to another, while inviting guests to settle in for an evening at a restaurant many of us know best in daylight.
Reservations open Nov. 4. Set a reminder and hop on them quickly.
Nonna Mercato is located at 3722 Atlantic Ave. in Long Beach.
