Mother’s Day Brunch at Nana

by David Donalson

Mother’s Day is known as the most popular day for dining out and my family was not the exception. This year we went to Nana for their “champagne brunch”. The food was great but I admit that I felt a bit betrayed by Nana. If you are going to call it a “champagne brunch”, please have actual champagne and not another sparkling wine. I like cava and other sparkling wines and I understand the costs associated with having champagne on one of the busiest days of the year but be honest with your customers. Call it a “Sparkling brunch” instead. 

We all started with the oatmeal custard, a small bowl of cold custard with oatmeal, almonds, peach and brown spices topped with a strawberry, blueberries and a dollop of BLiS maple syrup. I loved the interplay of the creamy, cold custard with the crunchy oatmeal and almonds, followed by a warming of the palate from the cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg. It was a great way to awaken the palate.

Tuna Tartar, Passion Fruit, Wasabi Ice Cream

For our appetizers, we chose the tuna tartar, Spanish tortilla and mushroom bisque. The tuna tartar was a dozen small cubes of soft, silky tuna sitting around a quenelle of wasabi ice cream with just enough kick to brighten up the flavors on the plate. A Spanish tortilla is an egg and potato omelet, which was sitting atop a piece of pan con tomato, bread with tomato and topped by beautiful strips of Jamon Serrano. The Jamon was salty and savory, the perfect complement to the tortilla and bread. The mushroom bisque was earthy and creamy, accentuated by the goat cheese.

Sapnish Tortilla with Jamon Serrano

The main courses were the highlight of the meal. We ordered the seared scallops with an asparagus risotto, the duo of pork belly and Scottish salmon and the roasted lamb. The scallops were just seared, leaving a velvety interior that paired nicely next to the creamy, al dente risotto. Sweet and creamy are the best descriptors for this dish, outside of delicious. The duo of pork belly and salmon was an interesting dish. The two were tasty on their own, especially the pork belly, but did not compliment each other. The pork belly was delicious though, with a crispy skin next to the fat and silky meat to make a beautiful mouthful.

Seared Scallops with an Asparagus Risotto

The salmon was a bit plain and was quickly overshadowed by the pork belly. The lamb was good as well. The dish came with two chops and a small piece of breast meat with a quenelle of sweet potato, black currants, mint and a warmed cheese. Although more cooked than requested, the rest of the family does not share my penchant for rare meat so I did not send it back. Lamb works so well with sweet flavors and the different sweet flavors on the plate (sweet potato, black currants, currant sauce) helped to accentuate the meat.

Duo of Pork Belly and Salmon

The dessert options were the least inspiring, as all of us agreed to order the chocolate ganache. This is not to take away fro the quality of the dessert, which was quite good. I appreciated the contrast in temperature from the room temperature ganache with the ginger ice cream. That ginger ice cream also was a nice complement to the finish of each bite, bringing a kick after the initial burst of orange and chocolate.

Roasted Lamb