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Kasama (Chicago, IL)

Kasama Restaurant
1001 N Winchester Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
773-697-3790
www.kasamachicago.com
Thu 08/20/2026, 08:30p-11:25p





For my fourth and final meal in Chicago, I ended up picking Kasama, a choice that should come as no surprise given my penchant for modern Filipino cuisine. Opened in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, the restaurant's name comes from a Tagalog word that roughly translates to "together," and is the creation of the husband-and-wife team of Tim Flores and Genie Kwon.

About the Chefs: Timothy Flores (a.k.a. Timothy Ryan Quitoriano Flores) was born in November 1989 to a Kapampangan father and a Caviteña mother, and was the youngest child in his family. He grew up in Cicero, Illinois, and was inspired culinarily by his mom's cooking as well as various PBS shows. He attended St. Joseph High School in Westchester from 2004 to 2008, and following, studied at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa (where he wrestled and pole vaulted), graduating in 2012. Flores' first hospitality job came during his college years, when he started washing dishes at Giuseppe Tentori's GT Fish & Oyster. After Wartburg, he resumed working at GT, but this time cooking, and it was here where he would meet his future life-slash-business partner.

Also the youngest child in her family, Eugenia Kwon was born in May 1985 in New Orleans to Korean parents who immigrated to the US in the 1960s, but largely grew up near Boston and in Syracuse. She was also inspired by her mom's cookery and television cooking shows, but following high school, decided to pursue biochemistry at Boston University. However, she soon dropped out and began working at a local law firm, and it was one of the secretaries there that got her to enroll in the culinary management program at Newbury College, where she earned a full scholarship.

Around the same time, Kwon secured a job at Joanna Chang's Flour Bakery through a friend, and started out as a barista before moving into the kitchen. She also cooked at Chang's new spot, Myers + Chang, which opened in September 2007. After a few years, Kwon moved to New York City and worked at the likes of The Stanton Social and Nobu Fifty Seven before landing at Eleven Madison Park in September 2011, serving under Angela Pinkerton. She stayed for one-and-a-half years before relocating to Singapore, where she lived a few months with the family of EMP colleague Kenneth Foong (now Director of Fermentation at Noma).

During her time in the Garden City, Kwon staged at André Chiang's eponymous Restaurant André and Janice Wong's 2AM: Dessertbar. She then retuned Stateside, this time settling in Chi-town in order to be closer to her parents. Now in the Windy City, she started working at The Peninsula Chicago before making her way to both Boka and GT Fish & Oyster to head their pastry programs. She met Flores at the latter, though their tenures there only overlapped for a couple weeks.

In 2014, Flores left GT for a chef de partie position at Noah Sandoval's Senza, and it was during this period when he and Kwon started dating. Senza ended up closing in January 2015, and following the shutter, Sandoval and the new lovebirds decided to open a restaurant together. This was the genesis of Oriole, which dropped in March 2016 with Sandoval as Executive Chef, Flores as Chef de Cuisine, and Kwon as Pastry Chef. The restaurant was well-received, even garnering two Michelin stars that November, but in 2018, the couple decided to strike out on their own (and also get married).

Kasama took over two years to get ready, and unfortunately, the restaurant passed inspections right before the March 2020 pandemic shutdowns. The Chefs initially tried to hold off for a bit, thinking the situation would go away quickly, but ended up opening that July serving casual all-day café/bakery fare to-go. This was followed by the introduction of dinner tasting menus in November 2021, a development largely forced by the realities of COVID-19 restrictions and staffing issues.

It was around this point that Kasama began receiving an avalanche of acclaim. First up was placement on Esquire's "Best New Restaurants in America 2021" list, followed by James Beard "Best New Restaurant" nominee status in March 2022. Michelin then awarded one star in July 2022, which was upgraded to two stars in November 2025 (the place had already been deemed a Bib Gourmand in June 2021).

September 2022 saw Food & Wine bestow "America's Best New Chefs" honors, while both Flores and Kwon were winners for Beard's "Best Chef: Great Lakes" award in 2023. In April 2024, Food & Wine came back with a #5 position in their "Top 20 Restaurants in the US" ranking, and the "50 Best Restaurants North America 2025" list placed Kasama at #31. Most recently, in January this year, Beard named Kasama an "Outstanding Restaurant" semifinalist.


The restaurant resides in the East Village section of West Town, next to Ukrainian Village (near where Flores' parents used to live in the 1970s), and takes over the former home of The Winchester Food & Drink, which shuttered in September 2018. It's a rather linear space, and I was seated in the left dining room, which adjoins the bar.


Kasama's dinner degustation (served Thursdays through Sundays) is priced at $325 per person, with an optional beverage pairing at $195, or a non-alcoholic pairing at $95. We also see the restaurant's cocktail list and wine list, while the corkage fee is $50 a bottle, limit two. Click for larger versions.


My welcome beverage was a fairly restrained hibiscus and calamansi oil tea.


1: kinilaw | golden kaluga caviar, kampachi, and coconut
Sitting atop pandan- and lemongrass-steeped coconut cream were kampachi and kaluga caviar, and I was quite enamored with how well the sweetness of that pandan juxtaposed with all of the oceany flavors going on. At the same time, a finish of calamansi vinegar served as a tart, almost vegetal accent piece. Pretty cool, and a promising start.




2: pulutan | talaba, shrimp toast, and mackerel
A trio of small snacks was next, all meant to be eaten with the hands:

• As recommended by my server, I began with the skewer of briny, smoky grilled mackerel and watermelon. The pairing seemed a tad disconcerting at first, but really came together, bolstered by the linger nuttiness of sesame and that zingy, citrusy Thai chile foam.
• Next came the talaba, a Kusshi oyster with whitefish roe that showcased some wonderfully tangy, savory, saline flavors, countered by all those crispy bits.
• Last up was the shrimp toast, arguably my favorite of the threesome thanks to how flawlessly that sweet, "bouncy" shrimp paste melded with both the toasted milk bread and an almost tartar sauce-like béarnaise.

Given the finger food nature of the bites above, a wetted napkin was provided.


Quezon City [$20.00] | rye, solera sherry, rosé vermut, toasted rice
I was able to try a few cocktails tonight, and up first was this spirit-forward number. The drink smelled of dark fruit and rye, with supporting notes of caramel and sherry complexity, while flavors were cacao-esque, nutty, boozy, and rather neat, with a marked savoriness.


3: lumpia | radish, herbs, and sweet chili
A mash-up of lumpiang saríwâ and lumpiang Shanghai managed to be a bit of a showstopper. I loved the interplay between the fresh and the fried spring rolls, the meaty savor of the latter playing perfectly with the brighter, herbier qualities of the former. Some great textures going on here as well.


Another hands-on course called for another moistened napkin.



4: nilaga | cabbage, bone marrow, and short grain rice
A riff on beef and cabbage soup was another highlight. Cabbage cooked in beef fat and bone marrow was draped over an A5 wagyu rice, and I was rather smitten by the marriage of the veggie with the smoky heft of the meat, all while the rice functioned as a moderating element. Meanwhile, on the side was a cup of beef broth, which only further augmented the heady flavors at play.


Along with the course above came a complimentary pour of Yangchon Chungju (양촌 우렁이쌀 청주), perhaps a nod to Kwon's Korean heritage. Aromas here were rife with notes of pâtisserie, while palate-wise, I found things soft and smooth, with a ricey sweetness joined by distinct funky elements and a cacao-ish nuttiness.


5: sinigang | sablefish, tamarind, and jalapeño
Sablefish ate luscious and full-flavored, and showed off some wonderfully charred crispy skin to boot. A quenelle of golden kaluga caviar further boosted the salinity factor, while evening things out was a tangy, tamarind-enriched beurre blanc.


Tonight's bottle was the 2021 Domaine Dujac Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, the youngest wine of this Chicago trip.

• Initial Impressions: On the nose: deep, dense, dark fruit and flowers. On the palate: well-evolved tannins, flavors of tart cherries, black berries, and black stone fruits, commixed with barnyard.
• After 20 Minutes: The bouquet became even more powerfully perfumed, while in the mouth, the Pinot noir was silkier, with tarter fruit, touches of herb, and a finish redolent of black cherry.
• After 40 Minutes: Aromas brought a cooler presentation of fruit, with a slight herbaceousness and now a distinct black pepperiness. On the tongue, things seemingly got lusher, thicker, with concentrated fruit at the fore.
• After 70 Minutes: At this point, the Burgundy smelled harmoniously of roses and sweet spices, and tasted of lively red fruit and fragrant violets. A commendable effort overall that will surely age gracefully in the coming years.

6: kare-kare | short rib, peanut, and perilla
In this take on kare-kare, the iconic Filipino peanut stew was reimagined into a tostada-like form with laminated flatbread, Australian wagyu short rib, peanut sauce, and shreds of perilla. The key here was the balance between the sweet-nutty flavors going on and those minty herbs, with the beef serving as a stage for it all. I also quite liked the mouthfeel of the dish's "tortilla" base.


Another wet napkin was provided.


7: inasal | squab, annato, toyomansi
A reworked inasal substituted dry-aged squab for the usual chicken. The bird ate properly juicy and tender, and demonstrated a delectable gingery, peppery sting, all while the toyomansi foam contributed a sweet-sour-savory sensation.


The fourth and final moist napkin--there was more utensil-less eating here than one would expect.


8: adobo | mussels, king trumpet, and chicken skin
Unsurprisingly, the unofficial national dish of the Philippines had to make an appearance tonight, and it did not disappoint. I was a big fan of the one-two punch of briny mussels and earthy mushrooms, offset by the super savory, almost grain-y crunch of fried chicken skin, with the nasturtium adding just a hint of brightness to the fray.


dongchini [$20.00] | vodka, white kimchi, castelvetrano
It was now time for another cocktail, and I opted for a martini variation that did a nice job conveying the pickle-y tang of dongchimi, backed by the booziness of vodka as well as a smidgen of savoriness.


9: paksiw | pork jowl, clams, and papaya
The night's final savory dish brought the Chef's version of paksiw na lechon, traditionally made from leftover roast pork. What we had here was grilled pork jowl with a foie gras sarsa (lechon sauce), chicharrón, and smoked clams. This all made for an unabashedly in-my-face presentation of brine, funk, and umami, so the counterpoint offered up by a salad of pickled papaya, kohlrabi, shallot, and sundry herbs was absolutely crucial.


With dessert on the horizon, I was presented with Kasama's selection of after-dinner libations. Click for larger versions.


10: truffle croissant | Délice de Bourgogne cheese and honey
Dessert kicked off with Kasama's famous truffle croissant, filled with triple cream cheese and black truffle, then topped with honey, truffle oil, and shaved black truffle. It didn't let me down, proffering a pretty amazing amalgamation of sweet, savory, and musky flavors, all rendered in a perfectly flaky package.


11: turon | banana and brown sugar diplomat cream
The lumpiang saging also delivered, displaying loads of sweet banana combined with some nice toasty bits, while that accompanying brown sugar crème diplomat amped things up even further.


12: halo-halo | chocolate granita, strawberry, and leche flan
An updated version of halo-halo comprised nitro-frozen chocolate, fresh and freeze-dried berries, ube, coconut jellies, and leche flan. Everything coalesced rather swimmingly, making for a fun, multifaceted dessert that veered almost Halloween candy-esque at times.


tayo-tayo [$20.00] | apple brandy, rye, pandan
My final cocktail also met the mark, with its refreshingly apple-y nuances meshing easily with the warmth of pandan, all supported by a base of boozy rye spice.


13: mignardises | guava & cheese and cassis
Petits fours included a spot-on guava-and-cheese pastry and a melt-in-my-mouth white chocolate bonbon.


My parting gift was an Ube and Huckleberry Basque Cake, one that featured a moist, buttery, crumbly exterior and a filling of ube pastry cream and tart huckleberries.

Tonight's meal at Kasama made for a fitting close to my week in Chicago. What I ate conveyed the spirit of traditional Philippine cookery while simultaneously adding new dimension to the cuisine. The signature flavor profiles that one often expects with the food were well-communicated, with those comforting qualities redefined in some clever, elegant ways. Kasama is reportedly the world's first Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant, and I can see why.