Nana’s Southern Kitchen: Soul Food for the Soul
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When you first approach the entrance to Nana’s Southern Kitchen you think you’re entering a fast food joint. Part of a small strip mall in the Tacoma suburb of Kent WA, the storefront is clean and neat with well-printed signs and pristine glass doors and windows. Inside it’s bright and sleek, with an austere, open feeling, a simple service counter and a pass into the kitchen. But don't let first impressions deceive: this is no fast food joint, and through that doorway of this serious eatery there is magic happening.
Nana’s was established just over one year ago by Todd Minor in honor of his great-grandmother, Myrtle Henderson of Goshen Virginia (lovingly known to all as Nana). Nana is gone now, but she left in her wake the guiding principles of always welcoming everyone with overwhelming hospitality and a sense of gratitude for popping in to eat their food. Starting with his grandparents, Todd moved his loved ones from the East Coast until the whole family was here to join in the restaurant and cook food Nana’s Way. Today the restaurant is run by four generations of the Minor family. Todd believes in giving back through opportunity, inclusion and pay well over the minimum wage, so his “family” has expanded to include people from the local area -- some with experience and others with little more than a drive to become their very best. This has translated into a vibrant, positive crew, who together have been working through the pandemic storm and are still creating more opportunities. And outstanding food.
Upon entering Nana’s, the feeling of down-home comfort is palpable not just by the friendly smile of the woman behind the counter who immediately introduces herself as Esha, but also by a warmth like she remembers you as an old friend. She happily shares how the menu works; it’s not a difficult explanation, but she wants to make your dining experience as good as if Nana were greeting you herself.
I’ve always revered the beauty of simplicity and a restaurant philosophy that less equals more. A great eatery limits its selections and then makes them better than anyone else. Seems that Todd shares that belief, because at Nana’s there are just four main dishes on the menu: fried chicken, pork chops, catfish and shrimp. It is this simplicity that reflects what they are doing here: cooking the food of Nana’s family kitchen -- recipes that have for generations held their lives together. We’re talking old-school Southern cooking here -- Soul Food from south of the Mason-Dixon Line. “We cook what Nana cooked; she taught us and that’s all we do,” said Esha with pride.
And that’s all they need to do at Nana’s, because the food there is the real deal. Despite the ubiquitous take out containers found everywhere during this COVID culture, orders are presented carefully, safeguarding against carry-over cooking, dripping condensation from the lid, or premature cooling. Take the fried chicken wings, for example. They are crispy with the most uniform crusty coating one can find. These are whole wings, large, plump and savory, with all three segments including the tip -- which any true wing aficionado knows is the best part. Crackling through the tensile crust, they emit a wisp of steam from the glistening moist meat. They are as natural and good as wings can be.
Fried pork chops — few things sound more delicious, but often become problematic, tending to be either too greasy or too dry. Either way leaves pork-crazed fanatics with a soul-crushing sense of disappointment. But Nana’s avoids that disheartening experience by frying their chops to a pillowy tenderness, with a crispened outside and juicy, porcine flavor within. The thin surface dusting gives just the right amount seasoning to compliment the meat and send you straight to pig heaven. It doesn’t stop there; loyal, repeat Nana’s customers (read: everyone who goes there) say that the catfish and shrimp are out of control and this is no doubt the case, because this skilled kitchen crew cooks Nana’s way.
It’s hard to compete with mains as good as Nana’s, but every self-respecting Southerner knows that sides can make or break a meal. Nana’s offers six sides, which includes a Mac & Cheese that is not to be taken lightly. Forget that creamy, yellowish bechamel of inexpensive cheese sauce that one finds in most joints. No, we are talking mac and cheese where sharp cheddar is cooked in a macaroni casserole, with striations and chunks and firm coagulations of cheesy goodness among dense, crispy-edged scoops of macaroni. Nothing loose or sloppy about this delicacy -- think firm, rich and moist with a heart-warming chewiness, and you will only just begin to understand how good Nana’s is. One of my own “last meal on death row” food choices has always been my mama’s mac and cheese. That’s because no one can make it better...until I tried Nana’s. This is mac & cheese the way to Gods intended it to be.
And then there are the greens. My tell-tale indicator of good southern cooking, collards must be cooked carefully, with just the right amount of spice, wetness and tenderness without losing that satisfying bite and chew factor. If it resembles spinach, it’s wrong; if it makes one think of kale, also wrong. Collards have their own character, unique among other greens, closest only to hearty mustard greens. And at Nana’s they know this. It is hard to say how they make their collards so good. Whether it’s a dash of something, something, or starting with real lard, or the right spices -- or a combination of all of these. But when asked for the secret, the corners of Chef Willie’s mouth curve up slightly as he reveals in a baritone voice only that “they are cooked a good long time.” The rest remains a Nana’s family secret, but however they make them, these greens are a lesson in remarkable southern food cooked with love.
Nana’s Southern Kitchen is one of those special places that Foodwalkers everywhere are always hoping to wander into unexpectedly. From the firm, warm cornbread to their smile-rendering sweet tea, it is honest, simple Southern cooking at its best. And though not at all the fast food joint which it may look like, the food here takes the fast lane from the kitchen, to your mouth and on to your soul. And Nana clearly knew that is what Soul Food is all about.
Nana’s Southern Kitchen
10234 SE 256th St,
Kent, WA
