A TOUCH OF THE BALABAN: We can’t help but wonder what Herbie Balaban would think. The name - or, rather, names — of the beloved local restaurateur, who died in Chicago in 2000, now graces a second restaurant.

What Herbie Balaban did more than open a restaurant on Euclid Avenue in the Central West End in 1972 was to revitalize a neighborhood - maybe even to help create that neighborhood. The irony that the new Balaban’s Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar is in a Dierberg’s shopping center in Chesterfield would not be lost on Herbie Balaban.

But, since it’s 2009 and not 1972, perhaps Herbie would understand that today’s restaurateur has to operate differently. So, Steve McIntyre, who bought the original Cafe Balaban from Herbie Balaban in 1986, is opening the new Balaban’s tonight.

He sold the original Balaban’s location to Brendan Marsden and Harlee Sorkin in late 2006. They subsequently sold it to Monarch co-owners Jeff Orbin and Aaron Teitelbaum who opened it late last year as Herbie’s Vintage ‘72 and who are doing a brisk business there.

The new Balaban’s has racks of library wines from the original cafe and will carry the three most popular menu items from the original menu — cucumber bisque, beef Wellington and pasta Ligurian - in both the restaurant and its gourmet carry-out section.

A spokeswoman for owners McIntyre and Brian Underwood is quick to point out the numerous historical ties to the original bistro that Herbie Balaban opened 37 years ago.

First off, the name, which is solely owned by the partners; the recipes; McIntyre himself; the world-class wine inventory that was retained when McIntyre sold the original Balaban’s in 2006; and Kevin Sthair, sous chef for five years at the original place and now chef at the new Balaban’s.

There have been a few soft-opening night crowds at the restaurant this week in preparation for tonight’s opening to the public. Among those who’ve been sipping and nibbling and oohing and ahhing at the honey-toned walls and copper-plated bar panels: Yvette and John Dubinsky, Ray and Kerri Hartmann, Tom McCarthy, Daisy Archie and the Rev. Andrew Archie, Ann and Joe Pollack, Lee and Cher Curtis, Andy Leonard, Gina Wischmeyer, Dr. Denise Curry and Pat Catanzaro.