Adobo from Chicago Filipino restaurant Kasama steals the scene on ‘The Bear’ Season 2
Photo from The Bear
Fans of the hit dark comedy show “The Bear” are over the moon as its second season premiered last month. More so are its Filipino fans after episode three featured Michelin-starred Filipino restaurant Kasama in Chicago with the restaurant’s delightful adobo.
At head chef Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) suggestion, he and sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) venture out to reset their palates by tasting others’ menus for inspiration after rounds of recipe testing. “I’ll meet you at Kasama,” he proposes.
Chef couple Tim Flores and Genie Kwon opened Kasama in the middle of the pandemic. It is a bakery and modern Filipino restaurant in Chicago. With experience working at a Michelin-starred restaurant, it wouldn’t take Kwon, with her grand pastry creations, and Flores, with his modern spin on Filipino cooking, to get one of their own.
It finally happened in April 2022. Chicago’s only Filipino tasting menu restaurant earned its first Michelin star for its “emphatic display of talent, training, experience, and heritage for an experience that is ambitious, clever, and distinct.”
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Filipino cuisine in Chicago isn’t just about adobo
The Michelin Guide lists Kasama’s mushroom adobo, squid ink pancit, scallop conserva, and shaved Serrano ham. In addition, its unique take on halo-halo is among the standouts in its menu.
This is why it came as no surprise when “The Bear” said meatless adobo is included in Sydney’s order—yes, she eats by herself because Carmy stands her up to do a favor for his love interest.
With that mushroom adobo is a breakfast sandwich with longganisa and hash browns, bagel tarts, and a matcha latte.
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The mushroom adobo served with fried rice, sunny side up egg, and atsara on the side came out first. The breakfast sandwich with a longganisa patty, egg, and cheese followed next. Sydney stacks these with the hash brown before dutifully devouring them.
The breakfast sandwich | Photo from The Bear
After a disappointing text from Carmy that informs her he’s bailing out, she takes a nonchalant stab with a fork at the mushroom adobo.
While her reaction to eating Kasama’s fare was not visible in the episode, it’s safe to say the meal was enough to power her through her day of eating in the city’s other restaurants. She also meets the people behind them—as all good silogs do, or most filling Filipino meals do, for that matter.
But seriously, we want to know what she wrote in her notes about her order. Not that Kasama needs any more hyping. Just for a peek into Sydney’s mind.
In the same month episodes of “The Bear” Season 2 dropped, Kasama earned new recognition. Kwon and Flores were named James Beard Awards’ regional Best Chef: Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio). Just last year, Kasama also gained a nomination for the Best New Restaurant Award.
