Baffo - High End Dining at Eataly

I didn't see a separate thread for this restaurant, so I thought I'd start one.
We ate at Baffo last night, and it was my first time through Eataly as well. The restaurant has only been open a little more than a week. Apparently there is a separate outdoor entrance, but we wound our way through the upstairs of Eataly and finally found the staircase down to Baffo. It is a sharp contrast to the huge space with noise and bustle that was happening up above. It's not a huge space at all, and was very modern. It wasn't quiet, per se, but it wasn't loud either. They have a small bar in the front, but there wasn't anyone sitting at it when we arrived.

The wine list was all Italian, leaning toward the higher price point. We ended up going with a more budget friendly Brunello, which was also available by the glass. I don't know that I've seen Brunello by the glass at many places outside of Italy.

They have a prix fixe menu available with wine pairings, but the options for the prix fixe that night didn't seem as appealing as the A la Carte items, so we chose to do three courses from the main menu.

Antipasti:
polpo alla piastra- one of the best octopus dishes I have ever had, meaty, not at all chewy, and deliciously flavored. The beans underneath it had some nice heat. overall one of the best dishes of the night. It was also quite a large portion, and had we known, we could've shared just one primi

sardine - marinated small filets of sardines, they were good, but paled compared to the octopus

Primi:
ravioli di guancia - beef cheek raviolis with truffles in a butter sauce. these were amazing. They were rich and delicious and melted in your mouth.
quadrelli di fegato- these were a square stuffed pasta with foie and chicken liver and served in a balsamic brown butter sauce. The sauce was quite sweet and the filling was rich, but a bit drier. the flavors were really nice, but we both preferred the ravioli

Secondi
antilope- my husband ordered the antilope chop, it was cooked perfectly at medium rare and had a nice grilled flavor, it was served over a butternut squash caponata, which was really nice and refreshing
costolette d’agnello - these were three grilled lamb chops with a sunchokes puree and chanterelles. Really great lamb chops, again cooked perfectly, delicious meaty and melted in your mouth. the puree was really delicious as well.

We were much too full for dessert, and considered grabbing coffee at the Eataly coffee bar, but decided to just call it a night.

Overall portion sizes were a lot bigger than our server had initially led us to believe, so some dishes are certainly share able, though some you may want to keep for yourself!! The Secondis were very good, but the flavors were more simple compared to some of the dishes we had for our antipasti and primis. Service was very attentive, a very well trained waitstaff. The only person who seemed to be slightly lacking was our server, who didn't seem as knowledgeable about the wines, though her dish recommendations were spot on. She was also a bit absentee, but everyone else was outstanding, and it has only been open a short time, so I am guessing that will improve. Preparations were beautiful, and they took a lot of time with each of the dishes. Several people around us ordered the Turbot, which they presented whole, and then would filet outside the kitchen (not quite tableside for most tables, but we were sitting right by the "filet station"). The same was done with the Ribeye for Two. Both looked excellent.

I wasn't sure what to expect, since it is in such a big complex, and there haven't been a lot of reviews, but I was very impressed and am excited to go back and try more dishes (and eat that Octopus again!).

44 E Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 521-8700

Eataly, the giant Italian food emporium in downtown Chicago, will close Baffo, its fine dining restaurant, on May 29.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct ... story.html