With the arrival of October, Otto Phan’s omakase inches closer to what might be considered its conventional peak…
Omakase
Here, in September, I can finally say that Kyōten has undergone a major change…
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…
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?
Mariscos San Pedro’s “Taco Omakase” is not just a relocation of what Chingón did before, but an expansion and evolution of the same idea: a crown jewel offering within a bustling restaurant that, indeed, may be looking to win Bibendum’s favor once more.
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?
Having tangled with the novel “beef omakase” form, you return to the comforting embrace of a traditional tasting menu. You also find your way back to a genre—Mexican (and, in this case, more broadly “Latin”) cuisine—that you haven’t engaged with since 2019.