West Loop's Japanese-Inspired Cocktail Tasting
Kumiko on Lake Street is Julia Momose's small West Loop bar. A Japanese-inspired cocktail tasting room where the drinks programme is treated with the same level of discipline a Michelin tasting kitchen applies to food. The format is unusual in American bar culture and quietly reset what cocktail tasting could mean.
The drinks programme is Japanese-inspired with seasonal ingredient discipline: shochu and sake-based cocktails, careful citrus and herb work, considered glassware, bites that pair with each drink.
What to Expect
Order the cocktail tasting menu. That is what the room is for. Expect a selected sequence of drinks moving through different bases, with bites between each course. The à-la-carte cocktail list rewards a careful order; the by-the-glass sake selection is one of the most serious in the country.
The Format
The dining room is small and intimate. Counter seating handles the closest interaction with the bartenders; the booth seating handles slightly larger parties. The pacing is unhurried.
Best Occasion: First Date
Kumiko is one of Chicago's best first-date rooms. The cocktail-tasting structure provides natural conversation through the entire evening; the room is intimate without being intimidating; the format means neither diner has to negotiate the menu.