If you have never heard the Japanese term "omakase" before, let me translate: it quite literally means “I leave it up to you.” This style of eating is most commonly referring to Japanese-style of restaurants and interactive experiences that leave it up to the chef to select the most seasonal ingredients and decide what specialties to serve to guests.
True omakase has no menu but the chef will base the courses off of the delicacies on hand and continue serving different items based off of reactions of the guests to each of the courses presented. As a diner and a chef, I highly recommend this style of eating, mainly because it takes all of the guesswork out of having to make any decisions on robust menus. I have been known to order way too much food because it all sounds too good to decide on just one or a few items! I want to try everything all of the time. Can you believe this is just for three people to share... and we ordered another course after?
Not having to make decisions is great, but as a culinary professional, I love being able to see another chef prepare all of their most creative and inspired dishes. Omakase menus tend to be a uniquely curated sampling of various sized dishes using only the highest quality, freshest, and even sometimes rare ingredients for a multi course meal experience.
This is fabulous for me because I love a good assortment of food without the large portion size, but these meals can be on the pricier side due to the premium ingredients. The cost is always worth it to me for the personalized experience, attention to detail, chef’s expertise, and most often a very intimate setting. Originally, omakase was mainly sushi driven but it has expanded to include much more than just different sashimi or nigiri courses such as yakitori (grilled skewered meat), tempuras (battered fried vegetables or protein), and even dessert plates. In Japan, there are also Kaiseki restaurants, which is another version of a multi-course meal, but they have more structure like a set menu and are considered the height of fine dining.
Here in America, these terms get used interchangeably and may not be the truest of form compared to where they originated, but they are still delicious. There are variations of this theme throughout the world. The contemporary tasting menu as we know it can be traced back to the Nouvelle Cuisine movement in France back in the 1970s. That's when chefs began to emphasize smaller portions, lighter, more delicate dishes and intricate presentations. These became known as “menu degustation” which is the French translation of tasting menu.
It is even said that the famous Chef Paul Bocuse travelled to Japan and was so taken by this style that he helped it become popular in France. No matter where you are in the world, or even here in Chicago, there is a big boom in restaurants providing these culinary experiences which are meant to be a food journey not just a meal, designed to delight all of the senses and showcase the artistry of the chef.
Every year for my birthday, I splurge on a multi-course tasting menu in the city. It is quite literally my favorite way to try new fine dining restaurant spots around town. This year I went to Valhalla. Last year, I went to Sushi by Scratch, which falls under the omakase sushi style of restaurants. They fly all of their fish in from Japan!
I’ve also been to Ever to celebrate and for my husband’s birthday, we enjoyed the tasting menu at Smyth. On our wedding day 15 years ago, we even eloped and ate at Alinea. I try not to be a rude customer, but I love taking pictures of all of the beautifully plated courses. I do it so I can remember everything that I consumed but also to look back later and remember these special dates! I wish I could post them all here but you can see most of them on my Instagram.
These kinds of meals are so special to us. I wish I could afford to eat like this more often, but I guess that’s part of what makes these experiences so special. It is so inspiring to eat at these restaurants where we admire the chefs and all of their hard work, dedication and creativity. Admittedly, neither my husband (who is also a chef) or I have worked at any of these types of establishments. The closest in my career would be at Spiaggia, where we served a multi-course Italian tasting menu. Some of these newer restaurants are next level, and I am in awe of them.
Even though I consider tasting/omakase menus to be the epitome of fine dining, I am proud of the direction we took our new demonstration-style Omakase cooking class. One of the reasons The Chopping Block is so successful is because we make cooking approachable for the home cook. And I truly believe that any style of restaurant cooking can be achieved at home! This class will take place on the patio and will offer a counter service type meal you would find in a restaurant with our chef instructor explaining every step of the way how to recreate this tasting menu at home!
We start the class off with chef's choice sushi. Then using some of the best ingredients from the Lincoln Square Farmers Market, we will be making a grilled seasonal salad. The next course is assorted chicken and vegetable yakitori, all followed up by a delicious teriyaki salmon course. You will get introduced to different Japanese ingredients and flavors so you can host your own omakase dinner party at home!
Another favorite component of these tasting menus is the beverage pairings. These can really make or break any great meal, and our Advanced Sommelier Mary Ross recommends our Riesling selection to pair with sushi. I think it would go very well with this Omakase class!
Whether you are interested in learning about pairings of food and wine or how to make sushi or Japanese cooking or other Asian themed menus, we have a class for that! Our chef-driven Tasting table demonstration series features a new chef every month with specialty curated menus. But I hope you give our new Omakase class on Wednesday, September 10 at 6pm a try - it will truly be a special evening!
