The Michelin Guide has just released its 2017 star ratings for Chicago, which earned 35 stars distributed among 26 of the city’s finest restaurants, showing that Chicago’s period of ascendency in the culinary world has given way to it being a firmly established restaurant destination. Chicago is a city that values its traditions and history, where even the newest additions to this impressive roster of Michelin-starred restaurants have to tip their hat to the trailblazers of the city’s recent history.

Nowhere is Chicago’s recent history of culinary success more evident than in the consistently awarded Alinea. Once again anchoring the list, Grant Achatz’s flagship restaurant now has 3 stars, Michelin’s highest honor. Though the likes of the eponymous Charlie Trotter’s and Rick Bayless’ Topolobampo are often credited with elevating Chicago’s profile from its relative culinary obscurity, it has been Achatz’s Alinea that has truly cemented Chicago’s status as a cutting-edge culinary destination. More than being a genre defining (and defying) destination, Alinea has served as an important proving ground for young cooks and as such, it should come as no surprise that so many of the newest-starred restaurants have direct ties to Alinea.

photo by Rudy Rubio

Band of Bohemia

Co-founder and head brewer Michael Carroll has cut an unconventional path in the culinary world. After years of traveling and working in some of the world’s most prestigious restaurants, he notably became the first and only baker in Alinea’s ten-year history before pursuing his brewing ambitions at Half Acre Beer Company in the North Center neighborhood. Following his brewing experience, he co-founded Band of Bohemia early in 2016 with fellow Alinea vet Craig Sindelar in the formerly industrial Ravenswood corridor. Carroll’s groundbreaking beers often feature unconventional ingredients like candied fennel, parsnips, and basmati rice, which are creatively paired with executive chef Matt DuBois’ seasonal menus that defy easy explanation (Globally influenced, modernist, and American are all apt descriptors).

The restaurant is the first brewpub to ever receive a Michelin star. Chicago likes its beer, as evidenced by the 67 craft breweries in the city limits, so the excitement generated by the recognition of a brewery is unheralded. Discussing the award, Carroll said "to be the first brewpub to have received this great honor is truly above and beyond phenomenal, not only for the food world, but the beer world as well. It has opened the door to what is possible with beer and food as a marriage."

Smyth

Another standout receiving a star its first year of operation is the Near West Side’sSymth. Part of a dual restaurant concept with the Loyalist, a chef-driven bar on the ground level, Symth is the creation of executive chef John B. Shields and executive pastry chef (and wife) Karen Urie Shields. The two met while working at, of all places, Charlie Trotter’s. John went on to open Alinea as Achatz’s sous chef in 2005 and in 2008 opened the highly regarded Town House restaurant in rural Chilhowie, Virigina. After four stunningly successful years in Virginia, the couple moved back to Chicago and began working to open Smyth.

With a commitment to seasonal, locally grown, and foraged ingredients developed during their time with Town House, Smyth sources much of their produce, herbs, and flowers from a 20-acre farm just south of the city, known simply as The Farm. This commitment to locally sourced ingredients clearly goes above and beyond the buzzword that phrase has become in culinary circles. Operating using the increasingly common ticketing system of reservations that Achatz pioneered, the restaurant is currently offering eight and twelve course experiences that could best be described as New American High Gastronomy.

Roister

The Alinea group’s newest opening in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood takes its name from the French word meaning, roughly, to celebrate boisterously. The restaurant surely captures that sort of energy with a concept that removes the distinction between kitchen and dining room. The restaurant centers around a large, open, wood-burning fire used for much of the cooking. Continuing the tradition of defying expectations, Roister marks the group’s first foray into a more casual market - staff do not wear uniforms, diners are encouraged ‘come as they are’, and the price points make the experience much more accessible to a broader audience. In keeping with the restaurant’s embrace of all things modern, a sort of manifesto was posted on Medium that outlined the team’s philosophy.

Both the multi-course hearth tasting menu and the a la carte lunch and dinner menus that are described as rustic yet refined. One of 2016’s most talked about dishes in Chicago, Roister’s fried chicken sandwich shares the menu with wagyu beef and Rohan duck. A full bar program consisting of adventurous cocktails, wines, beers, and ciders rounds out the offerings. Should you visit for lunch or dinner, be aware of the fact there is no dining room and that your chef may well be your server as well. Just play it cool if head chef Andrew Brochu or even Grant Achatz happen to run out your chicken dinner or smoked oysters.

Even if you’re unable to land a ticket for Alinea, you can still experience the richness and excitement it’s brought to Chicago with these three new establishments with freshly minted Michelin stars. Never derivative but still mindful of the city’s rich culinary history, these three could be seen as indicators of the future of Chicago’s restaurant scene. It’s definitely clear that the future is bright.