Review: Nana's

[BryanZ]

Several months back there was an ongoing discussion of the best of the Triangle area. Names such as Magnolia, Fearrington, Bloomsbury, Fins, etc were thrown around. Here's my recent take of Nana's autumn menu as published in the Duke Chronicle, available online at

http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/displa...0/43579ab221bcf

Everyone knows that Parents’ Weekend is one of the precious few opportunities to get a good, off-campus meal while at Duke, especially for those freshmen without cars. And with your parents picking up the tab, at no other time are the Triangle’s best restaurants more affordable. Moms and dads, possibly feeling nostalgic for family dinners at home, often insist on taking their supposedly hardworking sons and daughters out to that meal to remember. Which means there’s only one question left to answer: where to?

Fortunately, Nana’s is the perfect venue for such a meal. Although others may already be bragging about their upcoming meals at the Magnolia Grill or the Fairview at the Washington Duke Inn, both respectable choices, Nana’s has distinct advantages over both.

Nana’s large dining room makes reservations much easier to come by than at the perpetually booked Magnolia Grill, and it also offers more charm than the sometimes stodgy Fairview. Nana’s appealing upscale Southern cuisine, refined yet unfussy setting and amicable but professional service strike an ideal balance between elegant and cozy.

Adding to its charm, Nana’s does not aspire to be the quintessential “fancy” restaurant. Thankfully, there are no intimidating waiters in tuxedos to contend with or leather-bound menus printed entirely in French. Instead, Nana’s provides its diners with one of the most pleasurable and rewarding dining experiences in the Triangle.

The menu provides a wide variety of dishes, but focuses on strong, woodsy flavors that complement, rather than overwhelm, the other tastes. A grilled venison loin with sweet potato gratin and a honey balsamic sauce exemplified this culinary philosophy of food that is at once delicate and hearty. The venison was superlatively tender and flavorful, easily surpassing any beef dish in recent memory. The accompanying bright orange sweet potato gratin was a whimsical, Southern take on the traditional French potato dish.

All other items sampled from the seasonally appropriate menu were well executed and delicious. Another standout was the paté with truffles, pickled okra, grilled onion, and lingonberry compote. This dish highlighted the seductively deep flavor of the truffles as a direct foil to the sweetness, acidity, and bitterness of the other accompaniments.

The only slightly disappointing dishes of the evening were the desserts. While not poor by any means, both the blueberry and quince crisp and the sweet potato bread pudding were unremarkable. The hearty flavors from the savory menu seem to have crept onto the dessert menu, resulting in desserts that are overwhelmingly heavy after such large and rich main courses.

For an especially memorable meal, Nana’s offers a five-course tasting menu for only fifty dollars, a definite bargain for those who are serious about food and have especially generous parents.

Overall, Nana’s is not to be missed, so why not seize the opportunity on your parent’s dime? They’re sure to be impressed with your good taste.

Nana’s

2514 University Dr.

Durham, NC

(919) 493-8545

Prices: Appetizers, $6-12.50; Mains, $20-27.50

Picks: Truffled pate, grilled venison loin, seared scallops

Perks: professional waitstaff, New-Southern cuisine, tasting menu

[foodiehall]

Sorry I wasn't able to access the Chronicle article on Nana's, but thanks for the post here on one of my faves here in the Triangle. You did a great job of describing the ambiance of the place. As for dessert, tell it like it is....I've had some good ones there and others that didn't quite make it for me. What the hey...for me, dessert is never the main attraction.

[Varmint]

Great job, Bryan. I hope your parents get down here more often! I know Scott has poured himself back into Nana's since getting out of the Q Shack and Chop House ventures, so this report doesn't surprise me at all.

[nibbs]

The wife and I took in Nana's this evening (her for the first time ever, me for the

first time in 5 years or so). We went for her birthday - Needed to expand out of the

Magnolia rut we were in (A rut we were in because we lived 2 blocks away). And here's what I thought:

Jeffery Seingarten wrote a short blurb called 'points for bread' or something similar in his collection 'The Man Who Ate Everything'. It was on how a restaurant can score quick and easy points on brea and butter alone. I am sorry to say that Nana's got a point off for bread from the get-go. Maybe they can get a baguette from the Gueglehuph a mile up the road - It wouldn't be great, but better than what we got. Seriously, Food Lion quality bread. At least the baguette. The focaccia was fine. Had some cornmeal on it which was plesant. Maybe I'm too much of a texture freak. Maybe I'm a bread snob. Maybe the baguette tasted like 'take-an-bake' that hadn't been baked.

Based on Bryan's review, I got the pate. Based on Scott Howells excellent reputation

when it comes to risotto, Karen selected that. Both were excellent. I could have used a couple more toast points - The pate was sizeable.

Actually, now that I look back, I would have been satisfied with less pate. But the dish was excellent. The mustard that accompanied it was more mildly flavored than the seeds suggested, and the berries-I'll-not-spell-without-spellcheck compote (?) worked well too. But I say the risotto was the standout. If you are eating with some food-phobe and you have to order one appetizer, then I would guess that they must be pretty damn good looking for you to have to put up with that kind of crap on a night out. And order the risotto. Very satisfying and one of the only ways to get me to eat my peas.

Karen got the grouper. I can't comment on it because I didn't have any opinion either way. But I'm not the type to get the fish, so take that as you will. She cleaned her plate.

I had some wild boar loin with peppers and eggplant and bok choy - All was good here. I've had more tender pork in the last week (at Humble Pie in Raleigh), but this was better flavor by far. I can't say I could tell wild boar from NC pork. There was a nice layer of fat on top and the meat was solid - Chewy, but in a good way. Mopped my plate clean with the foccacia that I was getting used to (and was maybe getting better - 4 pieces will do that).

Dessert time came, and we have a homemade cake waiting at home and poor dessert reviews on our minds. 'But it's my biiiirrrtttthhhhdaaaaay'. So Karen orders the poached pears layer with chestnut cream and phylo dough. Which triggers a discussion on why I dislike phyllo dough and crepes. But the dessert comes out as if it is phylo's last witness before sentancing - Thick and crisp (not too thin and greasy) with poached pears and the cream. Maybe some cinnamon. Not too heavy and was quite satisfying. Almost as good as the cake waiting at home.

Overall - Cheaper than typical night at Magnolia (maybe the walking distance thing kept our drinking bills there high tho). I prefer Magnolia's bread. If I want to taste

Howell (or his influence), I'm more comfortable at Pops. Atmosphere is more formal than Pops, but has a nice regulars/neighborhood feel.

If I get a vote on best restaurant in the Triangle, I have not been pulled from the

Magnolia camp. Nana's can not get there on that bread. I wouldn't have served it in my house - You'd get better or you'd get none. But we'll eat there again - Clearly folks care about the food and that shows.

~Nibbs

[foodiehall]

Jeffery Seingarten wrote a short blurb called 'points for bread' or something similar in his collection 'The Man Who Ate Everything'.  It was on how a restaurant can score quick and easy points on brea and butter alone.  I am sorry to say that Nana's got a point off for bread from the get-go.  Maybe they can get a baguette from the Gueglehuph a mile up the road - It wouldn't be great, but better than what we got.  Seriously, Food Lion quality bread.  At least the baguette.  The focaccia was fine.  Had some cornmeal on it which was plesant.  Maybe I'm too much of a texture freak.  Maybe I'm a bread snob.  Maybe the baguette tasted like 'take-an-bake' that hadn't been baked.

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Huh??? What has happened to the wonderful bread I've eaten so many times at Nana's?! Maybe the baker/oven died? I hope this isn't a permanent change in the bread situation there. What they served in the past were moist, chewy chunks of whole wheat sourdough bread with a crisp crust which they doled out one chunk at a time....almost as soon as you finished your first chunk, here came someone with the bread basket to offer you another, and another and another....as long as you kept eating them. I had to restrain myself from filling up on bread so as not to ruin my appetite for the rest of my dinner. This was wonderful bread and the supply seemed to be endless. Something has gone wrong here and I'm going to find out what it is....I'd be dismayed if I went to Nana's and found the bread to be as you described. I could probably live on Nana's bread (that I've had in the past) and water alone.

[BryanZ]

I COMPLETELY agree with nibbs' bread commentary. The foccacia was passable but the baugette was severely disappointing. I actually wrote that in my notes but couldn't include it in the review because of space constraints.

I'd say you'd find a pretty decent split between people in the Nana's and Magnolia camps. Magnolia has a wider reputation, but generally I've found people leave merely satisfied or underwhelmed based on their preconceptions. Nana's is somewhat lesser known and therefore pleasantly surprises a lot of people. I like both.

[foodiehall]

Magnolia has a wider reputation, but generally I've found people leave merely satisfied or underwhelmed based on their preconceptions.  Nana's is somewhat lesser known and therefore pleasantly surprises a lot of people.  I like both.

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I think that's what happens in a lot of cases where a restaurant and/or its chef/owner get so much good publicity for such a long time: people go there with such high expectations that they're almost bound to be disappointed with one thing or another. Just my brilliant observation for the day