Ten years after Oriole’s debut, I cannot think of a tougher or more rewarding test for a restaurant that has earned its place in Chicago’s all-time fine dining pantheon…
Wagyu
This experience does not represent the Kyōten I know and love…
These past few experiences affirm that the kitchen has built a foundation through which its best ever work may now be realized.
By and large, I enjoyed what I tasted at Oriole back in September. Two months later, where do things stand?
Does the present moment represent the greatest run of form in Kyōten’s seven-year history?
Since writing about Oriole “2.0” in February of 2022, I’ve visited the restaurant another 13 times…
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?