KASAMA GETS READY FOR THANKSGIVING: OVER 1200 PIES SOLD IN A COUPLE OF HOURS AND A VERY SPECIAL FAMILY MEAL
November 26th, 2024. The annual American celebration of Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Traditionally held on the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving Day celebrates the harvest and blessings of the past year. This holiday is full of history, tradition and symbolism, and is modeled on the 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists of Plymouth and the Native American Wampanoag people. For centuries, it was celebrated by individual colonies and states, until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.
In particular, it is known for bringing people together around the table, to celebrate and express gratitude for the gifts granted to them over the preceding months. This iconic meal typically includes turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, followed by pumpkin or pecan pie.
“At Kasama, Thanksgiving is one of the biggest days of the year. In fact, it is the busiest day in terms of business” says pastry chef Genie Kwon. In particular, the sweet counter witnesses a huge demand. “From the previous day, the team preps for a larger crowd than usual, as regular customers come in to purchase, not only their individual pastry, but to take many of them home to share with their loved ones. The bakers slowly ramp up production for the pies and on the day of pick-up it is all hands-on deck helping bake and decorate the pies.” On Thanksgiving Day, the queue is longer than ever, and people can wait up to three hours to get to the counter and make their order. As such, over 1200 pies are sold over the course of the morning. Of course, special pastries and cakes are made for the occasion, such as pumpkin pie, which is the most popular, followed by pecan and sweet potato pie.
Chef Flores explains that the restaurant operates regularly on the morning Thanksgiving Day, with the usual daytime service and takeaway. However, in the evening, the team comes together to jointly celebrate this festivity as a family. All members of the AM and PM staff are welcome to bring their own families and friends. Since they opened Kasama, they made it a communal occasion where anyone that is town from the restaurant and their families are welcome. “The idea is to bring our loved ones together with their loved ones, creating a big community with one sole purpose: to celebrate and be thankful for the year through what we most enjoy, and that is food.” Kasama means together in Tagalog, the main language in The Philippines, and Thanksgiving is one of the times of the year when it becomes most meaningful. The restaurant is literally open to anyone who want to celebrate with Tim, Genie and their people.
Despite the long-standing food traditions of this day, at Kasama, they stick to their philosophy of adding their personal vision to tradition. As such, turkey is replaced by duck, and the menu features the favourite dishes of chefs Flores and Kwon, including prime rib roast, seafood, and, of course, a tone of side dishes. “It is especially great to host staff members who are constantly serving others. It gives us the opportunity to serve them” has declared to couple of chefs behind Kasama.
About Kasama
Kasama is a bakery and modern Filipino restaurant from chefs Genie Kwon and Timothy Flores located in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago. It first opened its doors in 2020 as an all-day establishment where Flores hoped to reveal a new side of the Filipino food of his childhood, while the morning rush would allow Kwon to show off her pastry prowess.
For Filipinos, food is a symbol of togetherness; a gathering of sorts. Kasama in Tagalog – main language in the Philippines – translates to “together” in English, and it is this ethos of coming together that the world’s first Michelin-Starred Filipino restaurant stands by.
Since opening in 2020, Kasama earned a Michelin star making it the first Filipino restaurant in the world to be awarded the accolade. Kasama earned 4 stars in the Chicago Tribune and was included in Esquire Magazine’s Best Restaurants in America. Genie and Tim were included in the 2022 class of Food and Wine Best New Chefs. In 2022 Kasama was a James Beard finalist for Best New Restaurant and in 2023 they won the James Beard Best Chef: Great Lakes award. In addition, they have just been featured in Robb Report’s selection of The 50 Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining
About Tim Flores and Genie Kwon
Tim Flores grew up on the outskirts of Chicago with his parents, who emigrated from the Philippines in 1975. His first experience in professional kitchens was washing dishes at GT Fish & Oyster during his university years. After graduating, Flores returned to Chicago and made his way into GT’s kitchen, where he met his future wife and business partner, Genie Kwon, head of the restaurant’s pastry shop.
Kwon, born in New Orleans, graduated from the culinary management program at Newbury College in Massachusetts, and trained in the kitchens of Flour Bakery & Café, Nobu 57 and Eleven Madison Park.
In 2014, Flores began working as a chef de partie in Senza, while Kwon served as the pastry chef at BOKA, which earned her the Jean Banchet Rising Pastry Chef of the Year award. In 2016 their paths met again to collaborate in the opening of Oriole, fine-dining restaurant that won 2 Michelin stars in its first year.
In 2018, Flores and Kwon stopped to give life to their own project. After two and a half years, they built that space in the Ukrainian Village of Chicago and called it Kasama. Today, Kasama is a reflection of Genie and Tim’s culinary backgrounds as a bakery and restaurant serving modern Filipino food inspired by the chef’s home country recipes.
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