Ever since the bakery and Filipino restaurant, Kasama, opened in 2020, I knew I had to go. And, I was even more excited when chefs Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores launched their tasting menu for dinner.
Since opening, Kasama and its chefs Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores have won a Michelin Star as well as a James Beard Nomination. The dining experience I had felt very much deserving of those accolades.
Reservations are a bit difficult to come by but I managed to snag a reservation to celebrate my mom’s birthday.
Upon arriving, we were guided to the dining room and sat just across from the kitchen, where we were able to watch the Kasama team do their thing. We were greeted with a welcome beverage of warm house-made cider with cardamon. Nicely spiced and subtly sweet. Drinking it felt like a little hug – made you feel comfy and like you were exactly where you needed to be. It was a very nice start to an incredible meal.
As with most tasting menus, Kasama offers an optional beverage pairing with dinner. I very often opt in for a beverage pairing if it’s offered and that was no different this time. In addition to an alcoholic beverage pairing, they also offered a non-alcoholic pairing, which I thought was a thoughtful touch. I love to see that non-alcoholic beverage pairings have become more integrated into the dining experience. My mom doesn’t often drink so I loved that she was able to feel included in that part of the experience with the non-alcoholic beverage pairing.
Let’s get into the food.
The tasting menu consisted of 13 courses. The dinner started off with the light and fresh kinilaw with caviar, finely chopped kampachi, and coconut. Kasama guided us through dishes like the earthly and umami-forward maitake mushroom and scallop adobo and the sinigang with sablefish and tamarind. We gradually progressed to slightly richer dishes like the kare-kare with lamb belly and a peanut sauce and the crazy tender Wagyu bistek. We transitioned between the savory and dessert courses with a black truffle croissant which was perfectly flaky, airy and just the right amount of black truffle. I completely understand why people are willing to wait for hours during Kasama’s daytime service to pick up some of these, along with their other amazing pastries. The dessert courses were a great end to an already perfect meal with standout desserts like the iconic halo halo and ginatanng bilo-bilo with coconut, sweet potato and mochi.
The tasting menu experience at Kasama was just awesome. Each dish had something to be proud of and I found myself approaching every course with a genuine excitement for what was coming next. Definitely a must-go.
Kasama, 1001 N. Winchester Avenue, open for daytime service Wednesday through Sunday, open for dinner service Thursday through Sunday; dinner $235 per person, alcoholic pairing $125, non-alcoholic pairing $75, reservations via Resy.