Thamin Saleh | Jeninni
Toasted bread and marmalade – it’s hardly an inspired combination.
Maybe a little thought goes into the fruit involved, whether to spread bitter Seville orange, quince or perhaps even kumquat. It’s the latter they prefer at Jeninni Kitchen + Wine Bar in Pacific Grove. But the pairing of jam and bread is not what stands out. Instead, it’s the give-and-take between marmalade and chicken liver pate.
Plush and dense, the pate slathers your palate with a churlish funk that would suggest farm style if not for the silken feel. This is braced by a stoney minerality and meaty swagger that appeals to the coarse acrid streaks on hunks of toast.
Yet it’s the marmalade – intense and husky fruit with only a trace of bitter spite – that brings character to the pate. Rather than cleaving through the liver, the kumquat builds on its dense savor with an earthy spice, all the while tracing sweetness through each bite.
Crumbled filone and pistachios decorate the pate, but they also serve to complement the mellow nuttiness of the bread. So the whole – just two spreads and some wedges of toast – becomes a memorable experience.
JENINNI KITCHEN + Wine Bar, 542 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. 920-2662, jeninni.com