VANA: a South End wood-fire restaurant, remembered
A short history of the restaurant that used this web address, drawn only from archived copies of its website and published press.
The concept
According to its 2020 website, VANA was “the second concept from Managing Partner Jayson Whiteside & Chef Owner Michael Noll”, the team behind the Charlotte restaurant Bardo. The name, the site explained, “translates in sanskrit to ‘wooded area of the forest’”, and that meaning ran through the whole concept: wood was integral to the food and beverage program and to the design of the dining room in the South End neighbourhood.
Where it was
VANA occupied 1440 S Tryon St, Suite 100, Charlotte, NC 28203, on the corner of Summit Avenue and South Tryon Street. In autumn 2020 its listed hours were lunch daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, and dinner from 4:30 to 10 p.m., with a note that pandemic-era rules could change them.
The team (as listed in 2020)
- Michael Noll, Chef. His archived biography said he grew up in Pittsburgh, credited his grandparents and mother as his earliest food influences, and got his first kitchen job as a dishwasher. He worked at Peppercorns and as sous chef at Baum Vivant in Pittsburgh under Chef Toni Pais, then in Chicago at Moto, Butter, Schwa and Sous Rising before opening Bardo.
- William Underwood, Chef de Cuisine.
- Amanda Britton, Mixologist.
- Jayson Whiteside, Managing Partner.
What the kitchen cooked
The archived October 2020 lunch menu shows a Mediterranean-leaning, produce-driven style built around the wood fire. Sections were starters, salads, flatbreads and sandwiches, with separate dinner, brunch, drinks and large-format menus. Lunch dishes included:
- Pickled local vegetables; grilled marinated Spanish olives; a meat and cheese board
- Heirloom tomato salad with herb vinaigrette, urfa and local lettuce (burrata optional)
- Grilled romaine with Spanish anchovies, asiago, croutons and garlic aioli
- Warm octopus salad with roasted potatoes, sweet peppers, chickpeas and chimichurri
- Soppressata and vegetarian flatbreads with crushed tomato, gouda and basil
- Braised pork cheek sandwich with onion marmalade and Lusty Monk mustard; open-faced cured salmon with ricotta, beets and dill
- Marinated eggplant wrap with hummus; shredded lamb neck wrap with curry yogurt
- The VANA Burger with XO aioli, burrata, heirloom tomatoes and local greens
We explore several of these flavours in Urfa, Chimichurri and XO and Why Charlotte loves wood-fired cooking.
Press
The restaurant's press page quoted the Charlotte Observer calling VANA the “kid sister” to Bardo, “fire and fun for the whole family”, and listed opening coverage in Charlotte Agenda and the Charlotte Business Journal. See our press archive.
VANA LKN
In early 2022 the website announced VANA LKN for Cornelius on Lake Norman. Read more on our Lake Norman page.
Closure
Archived copies of the website stop showing restaurant content in late 2023. We have not confirmed the exact closing date. If you have a correction from a public source, please see our contact page.