Balena Duo Earns Baker, Pastry Chef of Year

Slightly less than one year after starting to serve food on North Halsted Street, not one, but two, of Balena's culinary professionals are earning high honors.

The restaurant's Peter Becker and Amanda Rockman have been named baker and pastry chef of the year, respectively, in the Chicago Tribune Dining Awards. Both split their time between Lincoln Park's Balena and Bucktown's The Bristol.

"We've seen dessert programs in the city push the boundaries toward the Salvador Dali School of Plating," says Chicago Tribune writer Kevin Pang, in the report. "But Rockman, a Tru and L2O alumna, approaches her dishes with a gently playful, classically composed eye. She takes a don't-think-twice idea of coffee and doughnuts and turns it into, arguably, Chicago's most buzzed-about dessert: Cinnamon-sugared affogato, cumulus cloud-fluffy doughnuts with a thick and assertive espresso chaser."

Pang mention's Becker's breadmaking abilities in his shoutout, calling him a "dedicated baker" whose creations harness a sense of adventure.

Not only does the neighborhood boast the best chef and baker in the city, but many of the best restaurants.

Balena, 1633 N. Halsted St., along with four other local eateries, recently earned a Bib Gourmand designation. Its seasonal rhubarb pizza was named on Time Out Chicago's list of 100 Favorite Things we Ate or Drank in 2012.  

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