Stepping back into Kyōten’s sanctum after some time away always carries an air of anxiety…
Japanese
Pitting months and months of Kyōten omakases against each other is starting to become a complicated task…
With the arrival of the year’s hottest month, omakase starts to sound particularly enticing…
With Maxwells Trading’s popularity at a peak, my present format seems well-suited to writing some kind of evaluation…
The arrival of summer marks one of the most interesting chapters in Kyōten’s yearly work…
Another month, another visit to Chicago’s idiosyncratic temple of omakase…
How does the menu here change month to month? How does the perception of quality and value, when one no longer approaches Phan’s work with the romanticism of a “special occasion” splurge, change with it?
Kumiko is another one of those places (like Obélix) that feels so familiar it can be hard to write about critically. At the same time, it is a place that remains so uncompromising in its vision it can sometimes perplex and polarize segments of its audience.
Kyōten has nothing left to prove, yet it remains a mystery for many Chicagoans who have misgivings about a pricey restaurant missing Michelin’s endorsement. What is this “chef of the year” up to at the moment?
Without any novelty factor from the food hall setting to help round its rough edges, Valhalla “2.0” must deliver across every dimension: reflecting the lessons learned and dreams dreamt during the prior iteration…