Kasama

Kasama at 1001 N Winchester Avenue in Ukrainian Village is a Filipino-American restaurant and bakery in Chicago, Illinois, listed here as a two-Michelin-star restaurant. It is a two-part operation. By day it runs as a counter-service bakery and cafe, selling Filipino-inspired pastries and breakfast sandwiches Wednesday to Sunday from 9AM to 3PM, with the kitchen closing at 2PM. In the evening it becomes a tasting-menu restaurant open Thursday to Sunday by reservation only, where the dinner menu is priced at $325 per person according to the restaurant's published details. The cooking draws on Filipino flavours and ingredients filtered through contemporary American fine dining technique, and it has been a notable example of Filipino cuisine receiving recognition at the top end of the Chicago dining scene. The daytime pastries are a draw in their own right and often sell out; the daytime menu leans on breakfast sandwiches and baked goods rather than formal plates. The dining room is intimate and polished at night, with attentive service and a quiet, focused atmosphere, while the daytime counter is brighter and more casual with a steady stream of takeout customers. Visitors should note there is no a la carte dinner: the tasting menu is the experience, and dietary restrictions should be shared when booking. Reservations are required for dinner and are the principal constraint; availability can be limited, so planning ahead by several weeks is advisable. Daytime service needs no booking, which makes the bakery the easiest way to sample the cooking if dinner is fully booked. The restaurant sits in a residential stretch of Ukrainian Village, a short ride from the West Loop and Wicker Park, and works well as part of a day exploring the neighbourhood's cafes, Ukrainian bakeries and galleries. Pricing for the daytime menu is far lower than dinner, so the two formats suit very different budgets.