Dallas Food - Upscale Vegetarian: Nana

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Upscale Vegetarian: Nana
Posted on Wednesday, November 07 @ 03:07:52 PST
Topic: Vegetarian

Dallas still doesn't have a full-blown molecular gastronomer, ala Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Grant Achatz, Homaro Cantu, Wylie Dufresne, et al. I'm not sure the market would bear one. In the meantime, though, we do have Anthony Bombaci at Nana, who has consistently pushed to widen the narrow envelope of the Dallas palate. On to the food...

I'll touch on service first. It was rocky in each visit. Despite identifying myself as a vegetarian when the reservations were made, the waitstaff were not aware of this in any visit. In two visits, I received a non-vegetarian amuse bouche after I had informed the waiter I was a vegetarian. (When the waiters were alerted to this, the plate was removed, but never replaced with a vegetarian amuse bouche.) Menu knowledge was uneven among the waitstaff. In one visit, a waiter recommended a dish with trout roe as vegetarian. (If you have to kill the fish to get the eggs, it's not vegetarian.) In each visit, waitstaff became unfocused and inattentive as the evening wore on. (In one visit, I waited a little over twenty minutes between when I asked for the check and when it arrived at my table. It took another seven minutes to get change.) Though course timing between savory courses was good enough, the timing for desserts (after being ordered) was unacceptably long. Everyone was pleasant enough, but seemed to be stretched too thin, even on nights with moderate business. (It's worth noting that Nana recently hired Mark LaRocca as general manager. I've heard some reports of improvement in the front of the house in the last couple of months.)

In each visit, there were a small number of appetizers that were, or could be adapted to be, vegetarian. Mostly soups, salads, and some pastas. The kitchen was willing to prepare vegetarian entrees, though none were included on the menu.

My first meal happened to be on a slow night at the restaurant. When the waiter returned from the kitchen with an answer to a question about stock in a soup, he said the chef would be willing to do a small tasting of vegetarian dishes, if I was interested. I was.

The first item (since no vegetarian amuse bouche was provided) was tagliarini with parmesan whey and shaved white truffle. A quietly confident starter. Great pasta, probably the best truffles I had in this series of reports, and the light, creamy whey sauce. (I've read that Bombaci spent some time at El Bulli, where parmesan whey has made notable appearances over the years.)

The waiter then brought out an unusual salad of grilled baby artichokes, grilled scallions, cashews, and chanterelles, lightly dressed with olive oil and a pale, delicate honey. I set into it with some skepticism, but it won me over immediately. Every component contributed in small ways to an overall effect that I find hard to describe, other than as unique and enjoyable.

Next came a fairly conventional roasted butternut squash soup, garnished with julienne of black truffle. Apart from being slightly too viscous, it was enjoyable enough.

The main entrée consisted of grilled asparagus tips, baby carrots, and chanterelles, garnished with aioli and a romesco sauce. The foundation for this dish was the outstanding quality of the produce--particularly the early-in-the-season asparagus and carrots. The care in presentation and complementary sauces further elevated it above the run-of-the-mill "vegetable plate." Garlic in the aioli and romesco tied everything together. Piquillo peppers in the romesco added sweetness. Though quite enjoyable, this was the least of the entrees I had at Nana.

It may not look like much, but this was a spectacular-tasting dessert--easily the best I had at Nana and one of the most memorable of the entire series. Strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries sat in a pool of strawberry "consommé." The berries were outstanding--full, ripe, and sweet. The strawberry soup surprised me with its intensity and clarity of flavor. Above the berries sat a scoop of very tangy yogurt ice cream, garnished with strawberry foam.

In a recent report, I mentioned in passing that my baseline question for a fruit dessert is, "Would I rather continue eating the fruit dessert, or just enjoy a piece/bowl of ripe fruit, with perhaps a little sugar or crème fraîche?" This passed the test. It's tough to beat ripe berries with a dollop of crème fraîche or yogurt. And, really, the kitchen didn't try to. They just presented the fruit in different forms (i.e., straight, liquid, and foam) and froze the tangy, acidic dairy counterpoint. Classy and delicious.

Though I thought the meal was over after the strawberry soup, another dessert arrived. This dessert has appeared on the menu, with only slight variations, since Chef Bombaci started at Nana. It was a light molten chocolate cake, with ginger crème anglaise and a pineapple sorbet. Nice contrast of temperatures. The flavors meshed well.

Kudos to Bombaci for using Manjari for the cake. Few restaurants in town even bother to use a quality chocolate like Valrhona. If they do, they typically stick with the basic blends, rather than using the much better Grand Cru line (e.g., Manjari, Guanaja, Caraibe). (I also remember having Guanaja in some savory courses at Nana.) In this market, he could probably get away with using a cheaper, inferior chocolate (e.g., Belcolade or Callebaut). It speaks highly of him that he doesn't take the low road.

My next meal began in the same way as the first--with a non-vegetarian amuse bouche (this time with salmon). The waiter in this visit was quite knowledgeable about the menu, quickly pointing out the menu items that were or could be vegetarian and answering questions about ingredients confidently. Since the restaurant was busier, I had to stick with a more typical three course meal, this time.

First course was a salad of arugula and frisee, lightly dressed with oil and a smooth, strained cherry puree. Surrounding the salad were piped mounds of a creamy blue cheese mousse, topped with walnuts. A simple, conventional salad, apart from the effective transmogrification of cherries and blue cheese.

The entrée combined a wide variety of colors, textures, and tastes. The backbone of the dish was Bombaci's recurring ravioli carbonara (with the carbonara sauce held within the ravioli). Topping the ravioli were rolled roasted piquillos, grilled baby leeks, sautéed shiitakes, carrots, and asparagus, fried shredded leeks, and finely grated parmesan. Though not entirely coherent, it was pretty darned good. Produce quality was excellent. The ravioli were lovely. Though I enjoyed the dish, I do wish it had been a little less busy.

Dessert was listed as "PB&J." Pound cake was topped with grape sorbet and a frothy peanut butter mousse, served in a pool of peanut soup. Nice flavor and texture to the sorbet. Intense peanut flavor in the soup. Airy texture to the mousse that verged on foam. I might have preferred some starker textural variation (in the form of something crunchy) and temperature contrast (e.g., the soup being served warm, instead of chilled). But, still, it was a clever, enjoyable reformulation of a classic flavor combination.

The dessert was followed by a mignardise of vanilla custard topped with caramel and a tuille. A suitable finish to a good meal.

In my next visit, I finally got a vegetarian amuse bouche. A shot of watermelon gazpacho topped with blue cheese foam. Mild sweetness from the gazpacho and cool, sweet, acidic bite from the foam (which had the consistency of whipped cream). Good stuff. Made me wish I'd gotten an amuse bouche in the prior meals.

The first course, pictured at the top of this article, was a "liquid baked potato"--one of the few vegetarian items from the menu that night. Once again, Bombaci presented conventional flavor combinations in an unexpected form. Smooth, buttery potato soup was topped with cool, whipped sour cream, and chive oil. Delicious. Only one thing could've made the dish better; but then it wouldn't have been vegetarian.

Pan-seared gnocchi with butter-sauteed morels and chanterelles, asparagus tips, baby carrots, grilled scallions, pine nuts, brown butter, and micro sage and amaranth, topped with shaved parmesan. The best of the entrees I had at Nana, this one lingers in my memory for one reason--the gnocchi. I can't remember ever having finer gnocchi than these. Great asparagus, good variations in texture, and a whole that exceeded the sum of the parts. But take all of that away and just leave the gnocchi, sage, and brown butter, and I'd still be happy. As much as I liked it, though, I couldn't eat it all, as the portion was enormous.

I finished with a dessert sampler. Though the most expensive and elaborate dessert I had at Nana, it was a flop. The dish consisted of deconstructed versions of pecan pie, lemon tiramisu, and crème brûlée with berries. A deconstructed dish is only successful if it is at least as enjoyable as its "constructed" inspiration. None of these were. The highlights of the plate were the perfectly ripe strawberry and blackberry--the two items that had been left alone. Disjointed and overwrought, this was a far cry from the elegant, purposeful play with forms in the berry soup described above.

Another fine mignardise, with a granita of crème de cassis topping a creamy white chocolate ganache.

Apart from the rather poor service, I enjoyed my vegetarian meals at Nana. The vegetarian menu items, though few, were consistently enjoyable. And the kitchen's improvised entrees were ambitious and generally successful. It would be very interesting to see what Bombaci could do in a prepared vegetarian tasting menu format.

Rating for Nana: Recommended.

Pros: Vegetarian appetizers on menu were few, but good. Kitchen improvised entrees willingly and effectively. Seasonality was observed and produce quality was consistently exceptional.

Cons: Service was not consistently sensitive to vegetarian concerns and was generally inattentive as meals progressed. Non-vegetarian amuse bouche served on two occasions. Improvised dishes lacked some of the "progressive" bells and whistles of regular menu items. In some cases, excessive ingredient combinations and elaborate technique crossed into "more is less" territory.