The Restaurant
Nanas occupies a small detached building at 2514 University Drive in Durham's quiet Forest Hills neighbourhood, about a mile south of downtown, the kind of off-axis address regulars cite proudly. The original Nana's, opened by chef Scott Howell in 1992, was for two decades the senior fine-dining room in the Triangle, the kitchen credited locally with putting Durham on the national dining map before Magnolia Grill, before Mateo, before Mothers and Sons. Howell retired in 2022, and after a brief closure, chef Matt Kelly and partner Nate Garyantes took the building in 2023 and reopened it as Nanas (no apostrophe) with a deliberate program: preserve the dining room's intimate scale, honour Howell's legacy with a single tribute dish (the original Nana's risotto remains on the menu), and otherwise build a contemporary Southern-American kitchen that matches the seriousness Kelly has already established at Mateo and Mothers and Sons.
The dining room seats about sixty across two small interconnected spaces, with exposed brick, low pendant lighting over hardwood tables, leather banquettes along one wall and the open kitchen pass visible through a wide service window at the back. Kelly's menu at Nanas rotates seasonally but holds a recognisable spine: the twice-baked grits souffle with country ham and aged cheddar that has become the room's most-photographed opening course, the duck ragout tagliatelle with house-made pasta, the seasonal wood-grilled whole fish with brown butter and capers, a slow-cooked crispy lamb shoulder for two that requires advance ordering, the heritage-pork chop with stone fruit and the Nana's risotto in its original Howell-recipe form (the only carryover dish from the previous restaurant). The fresh-baked breads come to the table warm with cultured butter; the desserts are made in-house daily by the small pastry team and rotate with the season.
The wine programme is the room's quieter advantage: upwards of two hundred and fifty references selected with a clear farming-first bias by partner Nate Garyantes, including serious depth in Burgundy, Champagne, the Loire and a careful selection of small Italian producers. The cocktail programme at the small bar at the entrance leans toward classical preparations with thoughtful low-ABV options. The 2025 Michelin Guide American South induction recognised Nanas alongside Mateo and Mothers and Sons in Matt Kelly's now three-restaurant Durham collection. For a Durham evening that needs to register as locally consequential, the room's history as Scott Howell's pioneering fine-dining flagship combined with Kelly's contemporary kitchen makes Nanas the city's most considered celebration table.
Why This Is Durham’s Birthday Pick
For a birthday in Durham, Nanas is the calibrated local choice for the diner who wants the meal to feel both rooted and contemporary. The Forest Hills address itself reads as discreet and considered, a quiet mile south of downtown rather than the obvious Five Points cluster, the kind of restaurant address regulars share with practised discretion. The dining room is structurally intimate: sixty seats across two small connected spaces, low pendant lighting, exposed brick, the gentle hum of fewer than thirty other diners in any given service. The seasonal menu invites a long birthday meal naturally: the twice-baked grits souffle opening, the slow-cooked crispy lamb shoulder for two (which must be ordered in advance and supplies the table's structural anchor across an hour and a half), the original Nana's risotto as the unforced bridge to the room's history. The wine list rewards the host who wants to celebrate with a serious Burgundy or Champagne. The pastry team's house-made desserts pace the evening's close gracefully. And the room's quiet legacy as Scott Howell's pioneering 1992 fine-dining flagship gives the meal a sense of occasion that no Durham room opened in the last decade can match.
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