Nana's

[ajay]

I have been meaning to write up this place which was visited a while ago...the extended version will have to continue to wait, but I wanted to get the ball rolling. The place is a fairly good new american place with a chef (sorry his name escapes me at the moment, and I am not willing to do a search who trained at Bouley Bakery in New York) who knows his stuff, though I would tweek a copule of the dishes we were served.

I had a tasting menu (sans beef as usual) and my sister had an all veg menu that was probably not comparable with one prepared at say Gramercy Tavern was pretty good. The tasting menu was a bit smaller than I was expecting (3 courses plus dessert) but then again so was the price--the carnivorous menu clocked in at 45 dollars and the vegetarian one at 35--a steel by New York standards (given that the ingredients used were of at least medium quality) but now that I have compared prices in other places (notably Magnolia Grill in Durham and Cafe Atlantico in Washington, DC--two other places on my mind) I no longer find the price to be such an immnese value, but the deal is still fair.

As to the food I would say it was average plus plus to good minus (on what I think are fairly high New York standards--so this is quite an acheivement)

In brief, the courses I had were

(1) Salsify?? soup with a truffled chantilly cream--excellent

(2) smoked salmon gravlax served as sort of a terrine with goat cheese? in the middle served with an endive and apple salad some kind of vinigrette--my least favorite dish--the sald could not stand up to the exceptionally bitter endive (even iwth the and the apple provided little to the dish. The acidity of the vinigrette further muddled the flavor. I think the kitchen overreached on what should have been a pedestrian dish.

(3) a white fish halibut I think served with pearl onions mushrooms and a jus (there were more components of this dish but my memory is failing me)--average though the mushrooms were excellent. Inexplicably, though, the vegetarian was not provided with the mushrooms...maybe they contained stock, but then again so did the soup (we were told about the stock in the soup in advance, and my sister (under a fairly strong stare from me) relucatntly agreed to take in the soup with the chicken stock

(4) a real knock-out an absolutley amazing Pork loin cooked perfectly medium rare to rare (the color was like the combination of a white and red rose) served over a fricassee of minutare vegetables with a starch that I don't remember and a reduction of pan jus--but what a reduction it was!!!

Service was very good at times but lacking in others. Our captain provided several complimentary tastes of dessert wines, and while he was not an oenophilic god by any stretch of the imagination (it's nice to not be outclassed in wine knowledge every now and again) he proved to be engaging and willing to discuss the wines he was familiar with. The wine program was fairly strong with a deeper reserve list than I expected to find in NC with bottle of 92-94 petrus for example (the 94 was going for 750 big ones).

We drank a perfectly respectable German riesling spaatlase (2000)--the producer escapes me at the lower rungs of the list. THe wine had plenty of residual sugar with enough acidity for me but not too much as my sister has trouble digesting acid. Some might find a bit on the sweeter side. But I'm not so sophisticated that it really bothered me. A great experience--if I had several meals and a wad of cash to blow in NC I would probably go again and perhaps demand a longer tasting so that the kithen can pull out all of the stops. On the other hand, if I only have one meal, I want to revisist magnollia grill I have vague memories of a good meal there and would like to return as it is apparently the 11th best restauratn in the country??

Nana's is a very strong addition to the Durham dinning scene and I enjoyed it, though.

[Varmint]

Nana's is owned by chef Scott Howell, who previously worked with Ben Barker at Magnolia Grill. Nana's has been around for many years -- at least 5 or 6. It is an excellent restaurant and 1 of the 3 "destination" restaurants in Durham, along with Magnolia Grill and Four Square.

[ajay]

Rather than edit my post above, I will retract my claims that Nana's is new and substitute a paraphrase from NBC promos--Nana's was new to me. Thanks for Chef Howell's name by the way, he seems like a nice guy...he came out to the table to discuss the tasting menu with us, was very accommodating of my sister's vegetarianism (lacto-ovo and now apparently tiny amounts of stock--she's beginning to see the light). But, seeing as we had one of the later sittings (8:00 PM), he did not come back out to chat with us during the meal or afterwards. I would have liked to discuss the source of the pork and understand better what he was trying to accomplish with the smoked salmon dish. Anyway, this is a strong restaurant and I hope it's around for many years to come.

What do other egulleteers think?? Varmint, do you have any experiences??

[kpurvis]

I ate at Nana's last spring on a slam-fast eating tour of Triangle. I liked it very much, particularly the seasonal touches on the menu. I recall a cold cantaloupe soup with mint, and a roasted salmon, but I'd have to dig out my notes for anything more reliable. The one thing that surprised me was that I was expecting more Southern touches, given the name and Jean Anderson's piece on Scott Howell in Bon Ap, but the feel of the place and the menu seemed much more Mediterranean. Anybody else have that reaction?

[Zeb A]

I would guess that I have eaten at Nana's about 5-6 times over the past 8 years. I think it has been around that long when I think of the occassions I dined there.

Until the last time or two I went, about 3-6 months ago, I had always sort of felt like I preferred it to Magnolia Grill, mostly just because I like the atmosphere better--more intimate. However, our latest meals there were, while quite good, simply not on the level of Magnolia Grill in my opinion.

Based on my most recent few meals at both restaurants over the past year or so, I would definitely go to Magnolia Grill if I had to choose one over the other.

But, that being said, it is still a very good restaurant that I would highly recommend. It is just that, given finite resources, sometime decisions must be made--and neither restaurant is cheap.

I think there are other threads that discuss this restaurant.

[ditsydine]

Nana's is wonderful, and Scott and staff have been consisteny friendly and kind to my family. My mother, who has now passed on adored Nana's and scott. Oftentimes, he'd send out an item not on the menu just for her, or a special cake.

Have any of you tried his new BBQ place that is nearby? Also he is opening another restaurant in Raleigh.