{"id":100602,"date":"2025-07-28T23:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/100602\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T23:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T23:32:08","slug":"kumiko-named-worlds-best-bar-at-the-spirited-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/100602\/","title":{"rendered":"Kumiko Named World’s Best Bar at the Spirited Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago has\u00a0a lot to celebrate this month. Not only did we make Time Out’s list of the best cities for nightlife in the country, but Kumiko just got named the best bar\u00a0in the world\u00a0at the 19th annual Spirited Awards<\/a> in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Of course, this comes as no surprise to anyone who has ever sipped a cocktail there.\u00a0Kumiko is one of Chicago\u2019s most\u00a0beloved (and best) dining experiences, seamlessly blending the precision of Japanese cocktail culture with Midwestern hospitality.\u00a0Nestled\u00a0in\u00a0the West Loop,\u00a0the intimate, minimalist bar is led by the incomparable Julia Momos\u00e9, who opened Kumiko in 2018 alongside local restaurateurs Cara and Noah Sandoval.<\/p>\n

Kumiko offers an\u00a0omakase-style tasting menu for both cocktails and food, and each course arrives with intention, storytelling and flavors that linger. It has been recognized as special from the start, earning a Michelin star in 2019 for original chef\u00a0Mariya Russell, making her the first Black woman to be awarded a Michelin star.<\/p>\n

In addition to World’s Best Bar, Kumiko also won Best Restaurant Bar. Also\u00a0honored at the Spirited Awards\u00a0were Sip and Guzzle in New York City (Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar),\u00a0Trick Dog in San Francisco (Best U.S. Cocktail Bar) and Phoenix’s Little Rituals at the Residence Inn\/Courtyard by Marriott (Best U.S. Hotel Bar).\u00a0Side Hustle at The NoMad Hotel London earned Best International Hotel Bar, and\u00a0Panda & Sons, in Edinburgh, Scotland, took World\u2019s Best Cocktail Menu.<\/p>\n

In Time Out Chicago\u2019s review of Kumiko<\/a>, critic Maggie Hennessy wrote it \u201craises the bar on fine dining and delivers a superb lineup of sake- and shochu-centric sips and delicate bites imbued with Japanese flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of dominating the world with its cocktails, Kumiko also just landed at No. 10 on the 50 Best Bars of North America list, the first Chicago bar to make the list since 2018. In addition to those two accolades,\u00a0Momos\u00e9\u00a0previously won a James Beard Award for the cookbook\u00a0The Way of the Cocktail: Japanese Traditions, Techniques, and Recipes.<\/p>\n

For a full list of Spirited Awards winners, you can visit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chicago has\u00a0a lot to celebrate this month. Not only did we make Time Out’s list of the best…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":100603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[10633,960,5386,1818,65560,988],"class_list":{"0":"post-100602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-categories-restaurants","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-news-drinking","13":"tag-restaurants"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114933474527337432","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}