It is a marvelous time when Filipinos celebrate the wonders and greatness of the Filipino cuisine since April is Filipino Food Month.
In April 2022, the Filipino food community rejoiced as a Chicago-based Filipino restaurant received raving reviews and a well-deserved Michelin star.
Kasama is a Michelin-starred Chicago-based Filipino bakery, cafe, and restaurant owned by chefs and married couple Timothy Flores and Genie Kwon.
The modern Filipino dining menu was lauded in the 2022 Michelin Guide. The Michelin guide raved about how Kasama’s chefs have “taken traditional Filipino cooking and given it a creative, contemporary spin.”
The 2022 Michelin Guide praised the restaurant’s maitake mushroom adobo sauced with mussel emulsion, their pancit that reflects Spanish influence with its thin squid ink noodles, scallop conserva, and shaved Serrano ham.
It also highlighted Chef Kwon’s elegant take on the famous Filipino cold dessert, “Halo-Halo,” which combines Asian pear ganita and Pandan ice cream.
The Michelin guide also applauded Flores and Kwon, who are both former members of the Oriole kitchen, as they branched out on their own with “Kasama,” a restaurant that opened at the height of the pandemic in 2020 and has now evolved to represent the true vision of what the chefs and couple had in mind.
On Thursday, April 7, the Filipino fine dining restaurant expressed their joy through an Instagram post in this valuable recognition.
“It is still hard to believe what this industry has been through since the beginning of 2020.” they have written in the caption. “To make it here and to be recognized by the @michelinguide is truly beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Thank you to our team, past and present. Thank you to our wonderful patrons. Cheers to you all!” they added.
It can also be found in their menu on the restaurant’s website that they also serve the ultimate Filipino food favorites such as lumpiang shanghai, longanisa, and tocino.
Aside from these delicious Filipino foods, Kasama also serves croissants such as black truffle croissants and almond croissants made by pastry chef Genie Kwon.
This Filipino restaurant is indeed remarkable, as it also gained accolades. Kasama was a part of the list of The New York Times’ 2021 top 50 restaurants and Chicago Magazine’s Best New Restaurant list for 2022.
Kasama is located in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago.
Source: https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/michelin-star-revelation/2022-chicago-new-michelin-stars, https://www.kasamachicago.com/
