Chef Darrel Truett and his team change the menu at Barolo Grill every 6-7 weeks. Every single item is switched out or at the very least tweaked for the season. Every item, that is, except for the Anatra 360.
"This is our most classic item. It absolutely never comes off the menu. It's the one thing we have that is very traditional. Most of the other dishes are classic ideas, flipped with a modern twist."
Classic doesn't mean simple. The dish, like most masterpieces, takes an entire day to be done correctly. After breaking down the duck, chef renders the fat for about 25 minutes. Then he removes the meat to sauté the carrots, onions, pancetta, and herbs in a bit of the reserves. The meat goes back in and along with it goes a bottle of Barolo wine, the restaurant's namesake. He strains homemade duck stock into the pan and then in the oven it goes for two and a half hours.
It cools in it's own sauce overnight, and then is brought back to serving temperature slowly. The duck is finished with a sauce containing the braising liquid, Barolo's citrus gelee, kalamata olives, and some fresh citrus rinds. It's served alongside rosemary potatoes which are cooked in duck fat and seasonal vegetables.
What has changed is the name. The duck may have always been on the menu, but as chefs have come and gone from the kitchen, the dish has changed. "There was balsamic in it at one point. One chef was shredding it like carnitas. But we got the original recipe back and we wanted to do it exactly how it used to be done. That's what makes this dish so special. It's called the 360, because it's come full circle."