Bombola - Chicago
Bombola is yet another exotic restaurant offering from the Bonhomme Hospitality Group, joining their many fine dining and drinking establishments like Porto, Bordel, Beatnik and many others. Founder Daniel Alonso describes himself as "a citizen of the world, living seasonally between the US, Spain, Mexico and Morocco" -- and that global awareness informs the menu and the atmosphere at Bombola.
Bombola's website describes the restaurant as "A romantic voyage along the Silk Road, as imagined through the travels of a bon vivant and connoisseur. Culture, travel and style are at the heart of everything we do at Bonhomme. We channel our values into creating singular nomadic experiences for our guests."
The Silk Road, a Eurasian trade route that lasted for seventeen centuries (!), traveled through many countries, and many of those countries are represented on the Bambola menu. From Greece and India, there's Whipped Cheese (Greek feta, farm goat cheese, pistachio gremolata, aged balsamic honey, and garlic butter naan); from Turkey, China and the Mideast, Bombola presents Dumplings XO (spiced lamb Turkish dumpling, Bambola’s Parmesan XO Sauce, smoked shakshuka, mint za’atar) and from Italy, Lobster Spaghetti (Maine lobster, dmoked tomato red curry, charred broccolini, Gentile Gragnano Spaghetti, black lime, breadcrumbs).
The philosophy behind all these dishes is reflected in the words of Bonhomme founder Daniel Alonso who told Chicago Eater that “Over the last year and a half, we’ve been looking at the ingredients, flavors, compositions, and cooking equipment as a giant database to teach ourselves new lessons in culinary history. We’re not trying to make chicken parmesan a la Iran — we’re trying to create unique dishes that respect the historical context of those countries with access to ingredients they didn’t have. We can step into that space with something modern, which is the coolest part of the world we live in.”
To help all of Bombola's dishes taste even better, there is a spectacular wine cellar created by Michelin’s Sommelier Of The Year, Colin Hofer.
