Barolo Grill: A Great Italian Experience

Perhaps it was the terrible time we'd just experienced at Luca d'Italia that made our experience at Barolo Grill even better. However, as this was the third time to a restaurant where we had sampled their excellent desserts and wine list on our two prior visits, I'm reasonably certain that we had a genuinely good time.

Desperately in search of good food, wine, and warmth, plus eager not to make Grandma wait at home alone for too long with the new little one, J and I turned to the Barolo Grill to attempt to rescue our evening. We arrived at about 9:30 and the restaurant was as busy as ever, however the hostess was pleasant and able to seat us immediately. We were appropriately seated at two adjoining sides of a table for four with a view of the fireplace. The waiter immediately came over and started to banter with us in a friendly manner. When we explained that we were trying to resuscitate a dying evening, he was even more friendly and eagerly walked us through the menu, the chef's special dinner, and the wine list. We chose wines, were brought bread sticks and a garlic and cilantro sauce, and warmed up.

When ready, we selected a "terrine de pulpo," or grilled octopus tower, a salad of romaine hearts with white anchovies, the house special braised duckling for J, and a duck casserole topped with black truffles for me. The octopus dish was brought out after a few minutes and the combination of the octopus, arugula (I believe), cherry tomatoes, and kalamata olives in a mild sauce was quite tasty. The sauce muted many of the other flavors, but then a bite into an olive opened them back up again. Nice. The salad was genuinely tasty. The anchovies, a variety we've had before, are mild and have some quite subtle flavors. Barolo chefs probably know to soak them so that you don't simply end up with salt bombs on a salad.

The main course dishes were both very tasty. The braised duckling was the best and I won't bother to describe the tender texture and savory sauce. I'll simply say "Go forth and order!" The casserole was a tasty Tuscan mixture of white beans, white truffles, roast duck, duck sausage, and a savory sauce. The black truffles on top, an extra, were probably unnecessary. The dish was delicious, though I was a bit surprised that the chef would serve a dish with such relatively pedestrian roots as part of his 5-course special dinner. (In this case, I had ordered the casserole a-la-carte.)

The meal was great. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the meal at Barolo that the chef was able to truly recreate the earthy flavors of the Italian countryside, with appropriate American twists where necessary. I could have imagined having encountering the same flavors on vacation in Italy. Kudos for such authentic flavor.

We have always liked the ambiance. The decorations of old plates, vines, and flowers were familiar to us, having been to Barolo before, but this time from the vantage of a dinner table, one thing to notice was that even in the crowded dining areas, tables are still well placed so that guests feel some semblance of privacy.

This time, unfortunately, we had no room for dessert... a common theme on our nights out. As Barolo is virtually around the corner from the house, we'll be sure to return and see if they have any more fig tartlets or any of the other delicious desserts we sampled before.