Whether you’re visiting Charlotte, live here, or just happen to be driving through – there’s one thing you have to know. The Charlotte food scene is underrated. You can find all types of food from the mom & pop to the more fine dining setting. One things for sure, you won’t go hungry.

When there’s a new kid on the block, I won’t lie and say that I’m super excited to try them out. I usually like to wait it out a bit and give them a proper 3 months, not this time. From the team at Bardo comes Vana, their new sister concept. If you missed my Bardo review, you can check it out here. Walking into Vana feels like you transported out of Charlotte, if I’m being honest. Whether thats Brooklyn, Portland or Seattle… I’ll let you decide. The menu at Vana is short and sweet and has a little something for everyone.

Y’all know I had to see what the cocktail program was talking about. The Mariposa drink is a Don Julio drink with elderflower, grapefruit, orange, vanilla, agave and rose. This drink isn’t too sweet, it’s the perfect balance of light & refreshing.

The Keep it Spicy drink is up next. Over this past year, I’ve became a fan of spicy margs and cocktails in general. There’s just an added layer of deliciousness when a drink is spicy. While the Keep it Spicy drink did not completely disappoint, it was not as spicy as I would have hoped it would be. If you love just a hint of spice in your drinks, then this drink is for you.

I ended the night with the Summer Highball. MY FAVORITE OF THE NIGHT. This drink is lowkey dangerous because it does not taste much like alcohol than a refreshing summer drink that has orange watermelon soda. It’s a perfect cocktail, just order it.

We started off with the bread service. I can’t remember what food show I was watching or maybe I saw it on twitter but someone somewhere said that if the bread is good, the food will be good. It’s not a lie. Our bread was delicious and the butter is great. I could have easily ordered 3 more.

Then came the corn. The corn comes with an aioli, lime and chili. Simple yet I couldn’t get enough. As a mushroom lover, I had to see what the mushroom dish was about! This dish was good but it wasn’t great. If I wasn’t fond of mushrooms before, this dish would do me no favors. I would definitely eat it again, but wouldn’t go out of my way to order it. In my opinion, there was a little too much broth in mine and saltier than I would like.

Let’s talk cheeks now…. Pork Cheeks. If you know me, you know I don’t do much pork exploration. I’m not the biggest fan of bacon but when pork is done right, it is absolutely delicious. Vana knows how to do pork cheeks. The cheeks are drizzled in a chimichurri sauce, garlic double cream and squash [they tasted like potatoes]. If you’re on the fence about this dish when ordering, because we were, just order it! It’s delicious.

We then got Braised Lamb Neck. This dish was amazing. The lamb neck was tender, juicy and flavorful, truly an A1 dish. The lamb neck is served with chili, pickled onion and bread.

So there’s my dinner at Vana! Unlike Bardo, Vana does have tv’s so if you want to enjoy a game or two this is your place. The open kitchen is awesome because you can see everything be done in front of you. The side of the restaurant is also open and has bar seating facing the street which is a nice option for summer and fall coming up. I hope this gives you an inside look at some of the menu items and I can’t wait to go back to try their brunch!

Until next time!

XOXO,

Wynee

 

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