Kasama to pop-up in Madrid

Chefs Tim Flores and Genie Kwon, the husband-and-wife chef team behind Chicago’s Kasama restaurant will bring their modern, inventive take on Filipino food to Madrid next month as part of the In Residence Sessions program at the Semilla Food Studio.

Returning for its eighth edition, Madrid’s In Residence event kicks off this month with a more casual format called In Residence Sessions, offering shorter, more casual events spread throughout the year.

This year’s event was inaugurated with the appearance of New York’s Japanophile Ivan Orkin, who brought his knowledge of ramen and all its traditions to Madrid’s diners. Upcoming names on the In Residence calendar include Merlín Labron-Johnson of the UK's Osip; Fabián von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone of Contra, New York; Sarah Ciccolini of Santo Palato in Rome; and Nicolai Nørregaard and Kyumin Hahn of Kadeau, Copenhagen.

Next up to the plate on April 10-14 however are Flores and Kwon, who have been popularizing Filipino food at their Michelin-starred Kasama in Chicago. Functioning as a bakery by day and restaurant by night, the duo created Kasama to express their passion for the cuisine of the Philippines while making it accessible to all.

Beginning life as a cafeteria in the East Ukraine Village neighborhood of Chicago, the couple began serving a tasting menu in the evening, drawing recognition from the city’s fine-dining set. Michelin came calling the following year with a Bib Gourmand rating and a star the following year.

Kasama is destined for great things with Chicago’s critics and diners lauding the restaurant. The Chicago Tribune’s Louisa Chu notably called Kasama “one of the best in the world”.

May 8-12 will see English chef Merlin Labron-Johnson bring his exceptional talent to the In Residence Sessions. Labron-Johnson is at the helm of the English countryside hyper-local restaurant scene seeing so many bright English talents leave the big cities to establish fine-dining enclaves like Osip in Somerset. Diners will have to wait until September to sample the innovative cuisine of Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske of New York’s Contra. Sarah Ciccolini of Santo Palato in Rome will appear in October, bringing her authentic trattoria cuisine with her and chefs Nicolai Nørregaard and Kyumin Hahn of Copenhagen’s Kadeau will take over the Semilla Food Studio in November with exact dates to be confirmed.