I JOKINGLY asked ChatGPT what my wife should get for Mother’s Day – it replied a new husband.

It reminded me of the Philip K Dick short story, where a husband is replaced by an identical-looking alien who treats his wife better than the human version, so she decides to keep the alien.

My young kids and I ended up taking my wife to Nonna’s Pizzeria and Cucina in South Freo for Mother’s Day.

It was a good AI-free choice – South Freo was in full bloom – blue skies and no parking spaces.

Nonna’s is in a great spot on South Terrace, opposite Running with Thieves.

Sitting in the restaurant’s alfresco on a sunny day, there was a bustling vibe as the bold and the beautiful sauntered by.

The menu had a compact range of pizzas, mains and smalls. It was geared towards the modern trend of share plates with the likes of eggplant cotoletta, anchovy fillets, duck liver parfait, meatballs and charcuterie. The mains included rigatoni, mafaldine and squid ink risoni. 

My wife “Special K” felt like a main, so she went for the gnocchi ($29).

“It’s a vibrant dish with a nice genovese pesto and a refreshing pico de gallo,” she said.

“The velvety pouches of gnocchi have been well cooked and there’s a good balance to the flavours.”

I decided to get two starters from the specials menu.

The standout was the slow cooked Fremantle octopus ($25).

The presentation was top notch with the thick, juicy seafood perched on a bed of chickpea puree.

The octopus was delicious, if a tad lukewarm, and was brought to life by the spicy sun-dried tomatoes and kaffir lime oil.

The crispy chickpeas added some crunchy texture and the tahini dust gave the dish an exotic tang.

It was a very enjoyable dish and the star of the show – the octopus – was delicious.

I followed up with the leek and ham tortelloni ($18).

This was a creamy, indulgent treat with butter, sage and shallots. The red wine reduction added depth of flavour and it was finished off with some grated Comté cheese.

While not hitting the heights of the octopus, it was very enjoyable, but at $6 a pop it was quite pricey, although it was from the specials menu.

Across the table, my young kids were getting hoed into their Margherita pizza ($24), which had a show-stopping Neapolitan crust.

I had a sneaky taste and it was super authentic with lovely fior di latte cheese and a rich tomato sugo.

My kids don’t normally eat pizza crusts, but they wolfed down these light and airy specimens.

We rounded off the meal with some dirty fries ($15) – a moreish delight with ham-encrusted chips and a little tub of truffle sauce.

Throughout the meal the service was great and the staff were super friendly and helpful.

There’s a nice vibe to the restaurant, which has the old-school charm of a trattoria with a modern twist.

I enjoyed Nonna’s – the food was very enjoyable without being outstanding – and the venue and service were great.

PS – I hope this was written by the real me and not some alien imposter…

Nonna’s pizzeria and cucina
388 South Terrace, South Fremantle
nonnaspizzeriaandcucina.com.au

by STEPHEN POLLOCK