Durham Date Night: Mothers & Sons

Can you believe it took me over 4+ years of living in Durham to make it Mothers & Sons? Well, I am glad that has been fixed. If you’re new to the Triangle area or unfamiliar, Mothers & Sons Trattoria is an Italian restaurant in downtown Durham.

Alex and I FINALLY checked out Mothers & Sons during the Triangle Restaurant Week. During the Triangle Restaurant Week, a number of participating restaurants offer two or three-course menu options with fixed pricing. You can check out the Triangle Restaurant Week website for the list of restaurants and menus. I find it to be a great way to try a new-to-me restaurant!

Mothers & Sons Triangle Restaurant Week menu was a three-course dinner with three different options each for Antipasti, Primi, and Secondi, all for $36! And you can order additional items from their full menu.

For antipasti, we chose the bruschetta with marinated tomato and onion salad and fresh mozzarella and the arancini (with smoked mozzarella, stracchino, parmigiano, tomato sauce). I LOVED the arancini because I am obviously the target demographic. Alex liked the bruschetta a little bit better.

For pasta, I had the paccheri cacio e pepe and Alex had the fusilli alla Gricia. I think Alex’s pasta could’ve been a tad bit less salty (the meat was quite savory) but I loved the texture of the fusilli. They look kinda boring in the photos but I PROMISE they taste more exciting haha. We loved both.

After the pastas, we were pretty satisfied but we still had secondi dishes coming out! Alex had the wood grilled trout with pesto rosso, farro, and bean stew. I ordered the milk braised pork cheeks with polenta and gremolata. The trout was great, and the pork was delicious and tender.

I was actually too full to finish the pork cheeks dish so I got the leftovers to go! I think most people can choose primi OR secondi with antipasti and still have a plenty satisfying meal, especially if you’re a dessert person. Speaking of which—

Though not part of the Triangle Restaurant Week menu, we saved room for dessert! We almost ordered the tiramisu (#TeamBasic) but we went with their Chocolate Budino which is Videri chocolate custard topped with whipped ricotta mouse and hazelnuts. It was light but still decadent with rich chocolate flavor. Most times, I don’t want more than a bite or two of the desserts but I definitely ate my half of the budino.

The verdict is that we loved the food, we loved the service, we loved Mothers &Sons. It’s sad that we have denied ourselves of it for so long. We are already looking forward to many more pasta date nights at Mothers & Sons!

P.S. huge shoutout to Alex for letting me borrow his new phone and airdropping me all of these photos (and videos).