This month marks the first anniversary of Balena's opening, and in barely a year Pandel was named chef of the year in the 2012 Eater Awards, Balena was among Bon Appetit's top 50 new restaurants and was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for best new restaurant.Pandel also welcomed his second child a month ago, and chatted about the first year of Balena and what's on the horizon for himself and the restaurant in between domestic duties and running two of the hottest restaurants in town.

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Rodelio Aglibot is ready to get back in the kitchen and back on the line. The founding Sunda chef has teamed with two former Sunda co-workers—Aeron Lancero and Paul Lee—to open Earth + Ocean in the revamped Randhurst Village in Mount Prospect.

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What makes her one of the best pastry chefs in America is her mastery of temperature, texture and taste. In a word, balance. Chef Segal refined her craft as pastry chef in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the country, with early professional positions stationing her at Spago, Gordon, Charlie Trotter’s, Ambria and MK.

Segal’s subtle combinations of hot and cold, crispy and smooth, salty and sweet raise her desserts to the level of perfection. But her desserts don’t come off as meticulous, manufactured or precious, but rather as heartfelt dishes of pure craftsmanship—a craftsmanship that is rooted in Midwestern wholesomeness and more importantly comfort. Eating one of Mindy’s desserts can transport you back to a fond childhood memory of sweetness that has been taken apart and somehow reassembled into something better.

Mindy’s restaurant, HotChocolate is the culmination of 25+ years of dedication to her craft and the passion she has for the entire culinary experience. The urban café is a marriage of contemporary sweet and savory food, inspired by seasonal, local ingredients. It features an innovative, ever-evolving menu presented with gracious, polished first-class service in a friendly, inviting atmosphere..

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Jared Van Camp went on to work with chefs such as Donald Barickman of Magnolia’s in Charleston, South Carolina, Paul Kahan of Blackbird and Rick Tramonto of Tru, in Chicago, Illinois. Chef Van Camp, as could be expected, is intensely passionate about every solitary detail involved with the presentation of every menu item to every guest. Although the creation of any menu item is fairly elaborate, as everything is hand made on site from the freshest products, to summarize what his intent is with the menu is not.

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when one night, the sushi chef asked him to give maki-making a try. De Guzman proved a natural, and the chef offered to train him, but De Guzman went to Hawaii for a year instead. When he returned to Chicago, he went for a bartending tryout at Sushi Wabi on Randolph Street—and ended up behind the sushi bar.

Now the executive sushi chef at Sunda, De Guzman says he’s good with his hands and will grudgingly admit that, perhaps, after all these years, he has a certain talent for inventing the original sushi creations that have become some of the restaurant’s most memorable offerings. When not putting in 12-hour workdays, De Guzman says he can be found exercising at the gym or hibernating with his wife, Kathleen, and their dog, watching reruns of CSI. When he does venture out, a trendy scene is the last thing he craves. Says De Guzman: “If a place doesn’t look like a bar, I’ll go there.”

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Born in Lodi, Italy, Federico started cooking when he was in his early teens and his mom was his inspiration. Sundays were the day that she would get up very early and begin to prepare a family feast. Food was the focus of the day and he recalls it all with great fondness.

Now the executive sushi chef at Sunda, De Guzman says he’s good with his hands and will grudgingly admit that, perhaps, after all these years, he has a certain talent for inventing the original sushi creations that have become some of the restaurant’s most memorable offerings. When not putting in 12-hour workdays, De Guzman says he can be found exercising at the gym or hibernating with his wife, Kathleen, and their dog, watching reruns of CSI. When he does venture out, a trendy scene is the last thing he craves. Says De Guzman: “If a place doesn’t look like a bar, I’ll go there.”

Federico is passionate about the clean, clear flavors of Tuscany. He believes that every dish should simply express the fresh ingredients from which it is prepared and he demonstrates this in both his traditional and contemporary creations at Coco Pazzo. Federico’s early hands-on culinary education took him through Italy including Genoa and Milan where he worked for two Michelin Star restaurants. He worked with the Bice organization in Paris and Puerto Rico and returned to Italy. His dream of coming to the states brought him to Chicago in 2001where he became executive chef at Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush.

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Through his early years as a pastry chef, Jacques developed a deep affinity and passion for chocolate. Raised in France, Jacques fulfilled his American dream in 2000 with the opening of his first chocolate factory, Jacques Torres Chocolate in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Jacques was a pioneer—the first artisan chocolatier to start from cocoa beans to make his own chocolate. Jacques prides himself on specializing in fresh, hand-crafted chocolates using premium ingredients free of preservatives and artificial flavors.

Jacques and his chocolate became an instant success attracting fans from all over the country. In 2004, he opened his second chocolate factory and flagship store, Jacques Torres Chocolate, in downtown New York City on Hudson Street. With a retail viewing space surrounded by 5,000 square feet of a chocolate manufacturing plant, at the Hudson St. workshop, visitors can peer into Jacques’ venerated process of turning cocoa beans into chocolate bars. Today, Jacques produces and sells his chocolates and other high-end confectionery products at his two workshops and retail-only boutiques on the Upper West Side, Chelsea Market, and Rockefeller Center, all in Manhattan. Jacques recently signed a lease for a manufacturing space at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, and plans to move all production to the new facility by the fall of 2013.

Jacques’ story begins in Bandol, France, a small town in the southern region of Provence. At an early age, Jacques was inspired to start a culinary career thanks to his love for food and making people happy. Despite not having extensive prior training, but having 3 years apprenticeship, Jacques considered himself a craftsman and, in 1980, landed a job with Michelin two-star chef Jacques Maximin at the Hotel Negresco, starting a relationship that would last 8 years and take him around the globe. In 1986, Jacques was awarded the prestigious M.O.F. medal, the youngest chef to earn the distinction. Jacques counts his M.O.F. coach, Lou Lou Franchain, as a role model – along with Frank Mars of M&M Mars and Leonardo DaVinci who have served as sources of inspiration throughout his career.

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At Chicago’s Nacional 27, Seger serves as Mixologist and Sommelier, as well as beverage advisor for Osteria Via Stato. Seger creates a culinary-mixology fusion, bringing the bar and kitchen together.

A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Seger was StarChefs.com’s first “Chicago Rising Star Bar Chef” and has been dubbed “Chicago’s King of Cocktails” by New York City Magazine. Seger’s Kentucky Long Shot was named the official cocktail of the 1998 Breeder’s Cup and his El Corazon at Nacional 27 was named one of the best drinks in Chicago by Time-Out Chicago.

Seger passed the Advanced Exam of the Court of Master Sommeliers on his first attempt. He is the co-founder of Chicago Blind Tasters, a group of sommeliers from Chicago’s TRU, Charlie Trotters and NoMi, dedicated to preparing each other for the holy grail of wine, the Master Sommelier accreditation.

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Thai Dang is carrying out a simple philosophy with compelling results. He believes that the basis of any good dish is understanding the product followed by treating and caring for each ingredient individually.

His commitment to precision and attention to detail have been hallmarks of his career. In preparation for Embeya, Dang and director Attila Gyulai traveled across Asia to explore its diverse cuisines.

Their trip reinforced Dang’s desire to celebrate the best ingredients from around the world by remaining true to their flavors. He also draws inspiration from his Vietnamese upbringing and classic French training to create the inventive contemporary Asian cuisine at Embeya.

Dang began honing his culinary skills as chef de partie for award-winning chef Eric Ziebold of CityZen, a Triple A Four Diamond restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington D.C. He then received recognition as a senior sous chef for celebrated chef Susur Lee of Zentan at The Donovan House Hotel in D.C. Dang’s knowledge of Asian-inspired cuisine was essential to the development of this seasonal menu. It was here that Dang first began combining his native Vietnamese cuisine with his traditional French training to create a modern take on Asian cuisine.

In 2009, renowned chef Laurent Gras invited Dang to join the L2O team in Chicago. Dang worked closely with chef Gras to create the menu’s seasonal, labor-intensive dishes and in 2010, helped the restaurant earn three Michelin stars. Cooking at this caliber demanded discipline and attention to detail with some of the finest ingredients the world has to offer.

Dang, then, joined the kitchen at two-star Michelin restaurant RIA and Balsan at the Elysian Hotel Chicago as chef de cuisine. His focus on clean, fresh flavors coupled with his contemporary approach to technique and presentation elevated the menus at both restaurants. In 2012, Dang left to pursue his own restaurant venture and further develop his unique cooking style.

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Thai Dang is carrying out a simple philosophy with compelling results. He believes that the basis of any good dish is understanding the product followed by treating and caring for each ingredient individually.

His commitment to precision and attention to detail have been hallmarks of his career. In preparation for Embeya, Dang and director Attila Gyulai traveled across Asia to explore its diverse cuisines.

Their trip reinforced Dang’s desire to celebrate the best ingredients from around the world by remaining true to their flavors. He also draws inspiration from his Vietnamese upbringing and classic French training to create the inventive contemporary Asian cuisine at Embeya.

Dang began honing his culinary skills as chef de partie for award-winning chef Eric Ziebold of CityZen, a Triple A Four Diamond restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington D.C. He then received recognition as a senior sous chef for celebrated chef Susur Lee of Zentan at The Donovan House Hotel in D.C. Dang’s knowledge of Asian-inspired cuisine was essential to the development of this seasonal menu. It was here that Dang first began combining his native Vietnamese cuisine with his traditional French training to create a modern take on Asian cuisine.

In 2009, renowned chef Laurent Gras invited Dang to join the L2O team in Chicago. Dang worked closely with chef Gras to create the menu’s seasonal, labor-intensive dishes and in 2010, helped the restaurant earn three Michelin stars. Cooking at this caliber demanded discipline and attention to detail with some of the finest ingredients the world has to offer.

Dang, then, joined the kitchen at two-star Michelin restaurant RIA and Balsan at the Elysian Hotel Chicago as chef de cuisine. His focus on clean, fresh flavors coupled with his contemporary approach to technique and presentation elevated the menus at both restaurants. In 2012, Dang left to pursue his own restaurant venture and further develop his unique cooking style.

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