I have learned over many years and many tasting menus to be suspicious of any meal that seems like “too much of a good thing.”
Tasting Menu
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.
John’s Food and Wine took its time building a foundation that could reliably support a tasting menu rather than going all-in, from the start, in pursuit of glory. The slow, steady, and sustainable route has yielded something spectacular.
For those open to its charms, Smyth remains the signature, most singular restaurant of its generation. The third Michelin star only confirms its spot in Chicago’s pantheon.
An investigation of Feld: one of the Chicago dining scene’s most engaging (whether you find yourself enamored or averse) culinary expressions to date.
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.
After spending a bit of time exploring two of Chicago’s more longstanding fine dining concepts, you now shift your focus to a restaurant that has successfully reached middle age…
Does Boka, today, represent an enduring legend or reflect, in line with other recent missteps, BRG’s downfall? Whatever the answer, asking the question presents an opportunity to immortalize an establishment that has cemented its place in Chicago’s gastronomic history.
Rising from the ashes of Elizabeth, Atelier has already surpassed your expectations, with the restaurant representing an essential beachhead in the fight to democratize fine dining and foster an appreciation of local sourcing that transcends the cloistered world of “foodieism.”
Valhalla confirms Gillanders’s status as one of Chicago’s most talented chefs, yet the restaurant still only represents a half step in his journey…