Bones at Balliceaux

Somewhere, an old southern cook is spinning in her grave and the micro greens are only part of it.

At issue is the southern soul food staple, chicken and waffles, that long-time marriage of salty and crispy with sweet and bready. It's a combination so perfectly balanced as to leave no room for improvisation.

But this is 2011 and what chef doesn't like to riff on an old standard? The challenge, I would think, would be finding a way to improve upon something so classic without alienating fans of the original.

Balliceaux does it beautifully with their take on chicken and waffles, and I say this as someone who just ate it for lunch and had to wipe the residual grease off her fingers before beginning to type this.

Two perfectly fried chicken thighs arrived atop two Belgian-style waffle squares. The perky little micro-green gracing the thighs were nothing more than eye candy to remind the eater that this is the twenty-first century. I could have downed them in one bite, but merely smiled at their presence, pushing them to the side.

What did grab my attention at first bite was the spicy maple syrup, a definite change-up for its kick where sweetness usually delivers. The syrup benefited from the addition of red pepper flakes and it added a new dimension to both the waffle and especially the yard bird.

Subtle heat infused every bite since the syrup was not the sort of thing to be contained by the indentations of the waffle. I know because it ended up on my chin, on the napkin in my lap, and on the handles of my knife and fork.

By the time I finished eating, my fingers were a lovely mix of greasy and sticky. Maybe knowing that will reassure those dead southern cooks trying to process all this change.

But probably not. My Richmond grandmother's speciality was fried chicken and she never accepted that people stopped frying their chicken in bacon grease like she did.

Come to think of it, I had kind of a hard time with that myself.