It’s been more than a month since I’ve gotten to check in on this most rarefied of Chicago omakases…
Kyoten
Writing about Kyōten once a month is usually enough of an indulgence, so I don’t really bother capturing the other visits I make…
Stepping back into Kyōten’s sanctum after some time away always carries an air of anxiety…
This final Kyōten meal of the year is special because it lands immediately after a two-week trip to Japan…
Pitting months and months of Kyōten omakases against each other is starting to become a complicated task…
The arrival of summer marks one of the most interesting chapters in Kyōten’s yearly work…
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?
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?
Kyōten “2.0” is a restaurant of the very highest caliber that, as an ever-evolving human drama rooted in the rhythm of nature, can rightfully be labelled “art.”
The “Mickey Mouse factor” refers to the phenomenon in which children who are picky eaters at home are willing to try all sorts of new foods within Disney’s theme parks. If you extricate the concept from its theme park setting and apply it towards dining writ large, the mechanism actually proves quite enlightening.