You Might Recognize This Michelin-Starred Chicago Cafe From The Bear

Contains spoilers for "The Bear," season 2, episode 3.

If you watched season two of "The Bear," you may have seen one of Chicago's most talked-about dining spots pop up on screen: Kasama, a Filipino restaurant in the city's East Ukrainian Village. Opened in 2020 by chef-owners and husband and wife Timothy Flores and Genie Kwon (pictured below), Kasama mixes together one of Chicago's best bakeries by day with a fancier tasting menu approach by night. Plus, since 2025, it holds an impressive two Michelin stars; it earned its first in 2022, making it the world's first Filipino restaurant to receive the honor.

Kasama appeared in the third episode of "The Bear" season 2, alongside several other notable Chicago restaurants. In it, Ayo Edebiri's character Sydney takes a tour through Chicago's food scene in search of inspiration as she develops the menu back at The Bear. While her plans of meeting Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) go awry, she still proceeds to order an array of items at the cafe, including mushroom adobo, a longanisa sausage sandwich with hash browns, a mango tart, and a matcha latte, before moving on to her other stops around the city. 

"The Bear" represented Kasama's daytime menu pretty faithfully. Even a couple of years later, you can pretty closely replicate Sydney's order, although you may have to settle for a different fruit tart like banana or passionfruit. That said, The Bear was a little unrealistic in one detail: Sydney walks in without waiting, which would be pretty unusual considering it's known for hours-long lines.

As the Michelin stars would suggest, Kasama's cameo in "The Bear" is hardly its only claim to fame. It was also dubbed one of Food & Wine's top restaurants in the country, and took out the 31st spot on a list of North America's top 50 restaurants. And, as you might have guessed by the picture above, chefs Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores also won a James Beard Award in 2023.

If you stop by Kasama during the day, you'll get a bit more of a French vibe. Chef Kwon has French culinary experience, and one of its best-known items is a croissant filled with cheese and black truffle. While that's not particularly Filipino, you can still get staples like lumpia (somewhat similar to egg rolls); a Filipino breakfast with sausage, egg and garlic rice; and traditional Filipino chicken adobo during the daytime cafe hours. Most of those plates are around $20, while the breakfast sandwiches are a bit less.

Make a reservation for the evening and you'll get a 13-course tasting menu that leans much more Filipino. This is also notable, considering the chef-owners themselves have commented that Filipino cuisine tends to be more hearty and family-style, not typically lending itself to a traditional fine dining setting. Dishes that appear on that menu have included lamb belly kare-kare (a peanut stew), kinilaw (a seafood dish comparable to ceviche), or an Asian pear granita topped with puffed rice. Be sure to reserve well in advance, though. Probably not helped by Kasama's appearance on "The Bear," tables are tough to come by.