anna M
The objective for owner Billy Mellon and his business partner and executive chef
Jacob Hilbert in creating Manna was to offer their customers an escape.
“What we wanted to do was to create something in the busy downtown area of
Wilmington, but to make customers feel like they are somewhere else,” Mellon says.
Manna is a New American restaurant
and, while noting that they are not
doing anything groundbreaking by giv-ing
themselves this designation, Mellon
and Hilbert feel that they have their own
unique perspective on this style.
“Our definition of a New American
restaurant is trying to be honest about
using fresh, local, American made prod-ucts
… and that has tons of influence
on what Jacob cooks,” Mellon says.
“Buying local just for the sake of buy-ing
local is not the mantra here; it has
to be a quality product and it has to be
cost-effective.”
Hilbert adds that his cooking style
lends itself to utilizing local products and
regional soul food. However, the soul
food he is referring to is not all southern
soul food, but the respective comfort
food dishes from locations around the
world like enchiladas from the American
Southwest, Spanish paella and French
cassoulet.
“When you look at the state of the
world you can really tell what people
want to eat; right now what people want
is familiar comfort food that warms the
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soul, and that ties into what makes a
romantic meal,” Hilbert says.
The menu at Manna rotates seasonally
and varies depending on what is found
at local markets. An example of the kind
of comfort food Hilbert likes to prepare,
which is currently on the menu, is a fork-tender,
roasted Peking duck lacquered
in citrus, and a sauce of mustard, ginger
and kaffir lime that is served with roasted
golden beets, a green garlic chiffonade and
thinly sliced watermelon radishes.
The duck defines what Manna is try-ing
to do with its menu. Hilbert says, “It
is a beautiful, colorful, high-quality dish
made with local products.”
Joining the roasted duck on the menu
is a cured beef tataki appetizer
served with quince, roasted walnuts, car-damom
balsamic olive oil, arugula and
marinated goat cheese.
For dessert, couples can expect to
find such decadently sweet creations as
a chocolate flourless cake with chocolate
ganache, or a brown-butter caramel
mousse garnished with layers of choco-late
cremieux, chocolate paper and sweet
and sour apricot jellies.
Left to right: cured beef tataki appetizer, brown-butter caram el mousse