The Michelin guide released its prestigious list of starred restaurants on Tuesday afternoon, including four newcomers from Chicago, each awarded a star: Kasama in West Town, Claudia in Bucktown, and Esme and Galit, both in Lincoln Park. A total of 23 Chicago restaurants have earned stars — one fewer than last year.
The tire company typically awards its coveted stars to fine dining restaurants and fine dining restaurants with extensive (and often pricey) tasting menus. In late March, Michelin announced seven new local additions to its Bib Gourmand list, which highlights “value for money” casual venues. The full list of Chicago Bib Gourmands, which includes 55 restaurants, has yet to be announced.
Kasamas Kinilaw (Golden Kaluga Caviar, Hamachi, Coconut). Daija Guy/Esser Chicago
The list also served as a weigh-in for the state of American restaurants as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year. Michelin, which has been rating Chicago restaurants for 11 years, did not release a list in 2020 due to the pandemic and its outsized impact on the hospitality industry. Four of the 2021 selected restaurants have now closed permanently and are thus removed from the list: Yugen (one star), Entente (one star), Spiaggia (one star) and Acadia (two stars).
Parachute, the elegant Korean-American restaurant closed for renovations in Avondale, remains one of the company’s favorites but doesn’t receive a star due to the temporary closure. It is expected to reopen this year to give Michelin inspectors – anonymous agents who visit and review restaurants – a chance to return and re-evaluate.
Claudia moved to a permanent home in 2021. Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago
This year’s first-time winners also include some of Chicago’s hottest and most critically acclaimed establishments. Kasama, the bakery and fine-dining Filipino cuisine of chefs and spouses Genie Kwon and Tim Flores, has risen to national restaurant stardom (including a spot among Eater’s Best New Restaurants in 2021) since its early pandemic debut. Esme, the luxury tasting menu restaurant based on the visual artist collaboration of ex-Next chef Jenner Tomaska and his wife Katrina Bravo, has also received rave reviews in the nine months since it opened. For Claudia’s chef Trevor Teich, the first star of the quirky tasting menu restaurant might be an especially sweet treat: he’s spent nearly a decade cultivating the project, which began as a pop-up in 2013.
Chef Zach Engel of three-year-old modern Middle East hotspot Galit was surprised when he learned of the restaurant’s first star on Tuesday. He believes the forced changes of the pandemic may have done Galit a favor as his team introduced a tasting menu and incorporated unusual ingredients.
Galit debuted in 2019. Sandy Noto/Galit
A fine dining staple, Alinea remains Chicago’s only three-star restaurant, which Michelin defines as “exceptional cuisine worth a special trip.” The world-renowned destination has held on to its trio of stars since the first edition of Michelin’s Chicago Guide in 2011.
Aside from stars and Bib Gourmands awarded to restaurants, Michelin has also selected individuals for drink-related recognition. Colin Hofer, wine director at Bonhomme Group (Beatnik, Porto, Goodfunk), was named sommelier of the year, and Julia Momose, creative director and bartender at Japanese restaurant bar Kumiko in the West Loop, won the Exceptional Cocktails Award. The inclusion of Momose could be seen as an attempt to split the difference after the Guide removed Kikko, the omakase counter in the basement below Kumiko, in 2021 following the departure of chef Mariya Russell.
Check out the full list of this year’s Michelin Star restaurants in Chicago below.
*Denotes new for 2022
Three stars
Aline
Two Stars
je
moody tongue
oriole
blacksmith
A star
Boca
Claudia*
EL ideas
Elizabeth
Else
Esmé*
Galite*
goosefoot
Kasama*
Mako
Next
north pond
Omakase Yume
postage
black
sepia
temporal
Topolobampo
Sign up for the Eater Chicago newsletter