Balena

What makes the perfect dining experience? Is it a delightful menu filled with interesting dishes? Is in an ambiance that instantly makes you feel comfortable and at home? Or is it a wait staff that consistently goes above and beyond to provide flawless service. Balena hits a homerun based on any of these criteria.  Without question, this ranks as one of my top fine dining (i.e. non-ethnic) meals of the year.

Balena has been on my shortlist of must try restauarants for some time now. Balena opened up last spring to much acclaim. The restaurant is basically a joint venture between the Boka Group and Chef Chris Pandel of The Bristol. My expectations were sky-high as I have thoroughly enjoyed all my previous Boka Group meals (Boka, Girl and the Goat, GT Fish and Oyster, Perennial) as well as my dinner at The Bristol last winter.

The restaurant is located on Halsted, just north of North Ave in the old Landmark space.  The restaurant is fairly large and is split out between two levels.  The exposed brick walls are pretty cool. The tables, chairs, flatware, and stemware are all unique and of very high quality. I love the fact that managers leave ample space between tables so you have room to really settle in and get comfortable.

We started out with a selection of breads. There were five breads and breadsticks, and three garnishes. I really enjoyed the pumpkin brioche which worked very well with a fava bean garnish that has a slight south Asian flavor to it.

Peter's Bread, with Garnishes

Next came our Tuscan kale “Caesar Salad”. This was my first raw kale experience and I have to say that it was quite good. The sturdy leaves do a great job of holding onto all the dressing. The dressing was incredible, not a traditional Caesar dressing at all.  The salad was dressed with tonnato sauce. Tonnato is basically a tuna, mayonnaise and anchovy sauce from the northern Italy, near the French and Swiss borders. Tonnato is normally served with veal but I can say that is works very well as a salad dressing.  The dish was topped off with generous portions of pecorino cheese, crisp crotons, and big slices of salty sardines. What a delightful salad!



Kale "Caesar" Salad



After we finished up our salad, it was time for main courses. I had the tagliolini nero, with sea urchin, crab, and chili. The black noodles were excellent. I loved the little chunks of crab meat and the sliced chilies delivered just the right amount of heat. My favorite part of the dish was the sea urchin. It tasted briny and sweet at the same time, it really added another layer of decadence to this already luxurious dish.  To add icing on the cake, our waiter brought a complimentary glass of Vermentino that paired perfectly with the dish. This was a special touch that didn’t go unappreciated.

Tagliolini Nero

Katie ordered rigatoni with a pork Bolognese sauce and porcini mushrooms. This was another major hit. This dish really embodied the term savory.  This is really what I think of when I think of Italian comfort food.

Rigatoni Bolognese

As both Kate and I are diehard polenta fans, we had to include a side of baked polenta. The polenta was perfectly cooked, very crispy on the outside with a smooth creamy inside.  The pieces of polenta were covered in one of the best tomato sauces I’ve tasted in recent memory. All this was topped with Dante, an aged sheepsmilk cheese, and baked. 

Baked Polenta

For desert, we got the Affogato. Affogato is basically a shot of espresso with vanilla gelato. Ours was served with fresh cinnamon donuts which were absolutely perfect for dipping.  I am normally not a desert person that this was unreal. The espresso and gelato were the best I’ve had since Italy. The espresso with melted gelato made for a sinfully rich end to a fantastic meal.

Affogato with Cinnamon Donuts

At the end of our meal, our waiter brought us another complimentary drink, this time a digestif, made with fortified white wine. The wine had a strong licorice smell but went do very smoothly. This was the perfect end to a perfect dining experience. Without a doubt, this was one of my best restaurant experiences of 2012.