The website of the high-end West Town restaurant Atsumeru says that the spot “is built on the quiet power of gathering. Influences, memories and techniques [that] are brought together with care and intention, shaping an experience rooted in restraint and purpose.”
I say that it’s an experience rooted in newness and journeying. Trust me—your taste buds probably have not encountered tastes and textures like those this Japanese-Nordic place offers. Guests can expect a 10-to-12 course tasting menu that will evolve continually. You’re meant to go on a culinary journey—and, indeed, it feels like one.
A restaurant like Atsumeru can seem intimidating to some—but it’s a lot more down to earth than its $160-per-person tag implies. For starters, guests were taken downstairs to a lounge—where disco (instead of, say, Brahms or Miles Davis) was played. It’s also in that lounge where the culinary trek starts, with three complex, layered bites. My friend and I also enjoyed cocktails: She had the Skar Punch (gin, aperol, rhubarb and guava) while I had the vivid Ume Cream (consisting of whiskey, the French brandy armagnac, plum and rice).
Once upstairs, Chef Devin Dester and his staff offered a dizzying array of dishes that showcased Dester’s wide but evolving understanding of Japanese and Nordic cuisines. One of our favorite bites involves the chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard) that came with asparagus, tiny shimeji mushrooms, halibut and whey—but there were certainly others, such as the choux pastry stuffed with sweet Gjetost cheese, caramelized onions and powdered malt vinegar. Another involved whipped foie gras inside krumkake, a Danish cookie that’s loosely rolled and filled with whipped cream and jam; on top was cloudberry jam. There was a financier (sobacha) with candied cocoa husks (usually discarded during the chocolate process or used to make a chocolate tea drink) and caramelized white chocolate with a yuzu amazake sauce—a dish that was amazing on several levels. And we were warned about the delightful aloe/kaffir lime spheres: Keep your mouths closed when you bite into them or you will get liquid all over you. We heartily obliged.
Then there was the dish that I previously discussed with Denzer that garnered my attention in the first place: Milk and Pine. This dish (wonderfully complex, like the others mentioned) consists of milk ice cream and a white chocolate shell that’s immersed in a broth of pine needle oil and kombucha. (The concoction isn’t that surprising once one realizes Denzer is from Minnesota.) Also, on the top was a snowflake tuile that’s dusted with apple powder.
And while the offerings were indeed impressive, there were a couple missteps. While it was cool that we were allowed to select our knives before the wagyu was presented, the meat was unfortunately a bit rubbery, which made cutting somewhat difficult. Also, maybe it’s been repetition over the time Atsumeru has been open, but staffers recited the ingredients so quickly that it was sometimes hard to intellectually process these offerings before I could physically/emotionally appreciate them.
But believe me when I state that you should embrace the journey that Atsumeru offers. You won’t soon forget it—for all the right reasons.
Grade: A-
Nic & Junior’s
Last year, Chef Junior Borges teamed with Nic Yanes and Chris Parvin to start Nic & Junior’s Tavern—a restaurant in Chicago’s River North area inspired by Borges’ Brazilian heritage. The upscale tavern has since received accolades, including being named a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
So why was this attractive and accomplished spot nearly empty when a friend and I stopped by recently? Well, Nic & Junior’s has a major obstacle: access. Not only is the tavern somewhat difficult to find (as I had to ask a doorman at an adjacent building) but it’s prohibited from even exhibiting external signage (e.g., a sandwich board) because of restrictions of the two buildings it’s in the shadow of: The Wrigley Building and Trump Tower.
This is a shame because Nic & Junior’s has some remarkable dinner menu items. (By the way, the happy-hour items are worth checking out as well, with cool cocktails as well as grilled “beach” cheese on a stick and steak tartare toast.) Regarding appetizers, the Brazilian cheese balls (pão de queijo)—served with butter and guava jam—are sinfully tasty. We were also fans of the tartare (with giardiniera, smoked cheddar and crispy leeks), tapioca-and-cheese fritters (with prosciutto and hot sauce) and caviar tater tots. Basically, you can’t go wrong with Nic & Junior’s apps.
The large plates, however, had a few problems although, overall, they were pretty tasty. My friend thought the lobster ravioli (with smoked pork brodo, green garlic and chives) was more “seafood-forward” than he expected, and there was a noticeable brininess that initially overpowered everything else. He also enjoyed the rigatoni vodka, although he wasn’t sure the meatballs were worth the extra $15. As for me, I really enjoyed my cheeseburger—although people should know that it’s automatically cooked at medium unless the guest requests otherwise. As for the accompanying tavern fries, they come with a seasoning that my dining companion and I thought was a real misstep; in fact, I suggested that, in the future, plain fries should be an option. (Other entrees include moqueca—a dish with striped bass that’s inspired by the chef’s grandmother—as well as piri piri chicken and steak frites, the latter with a seven-ounce filet mignon.)
But all was right with the world again with dessert offerings that included Valrhona chocolate brigadeiros (traditional Brazilian chocolate truffles that are cooked down to a thick fudge, rolled into balls, and covered in sprinkles or other toppings) as well as a brigadeiro tiramisu.
Nic & Junior’s has a lot of unique dishes that people will certainly enjoy. The only hiccup is that you might have to employ GPS (or a sherpa) to locate it.
Grade: B+
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