THE MENU
At SHŌ, every season marks the beginning of a new chapter-shaped by the ingredients at their peak, the stories we want to tell, and the techniques that continue to inspire our team. Throughout the year, we thoughtfully reimagine the entire experience each season, allowing us to continuously showcase exceptional products, exploring new flavors, ideas, and presentations
Now playing-
SUMMER MENU VOL. 4
A New Season. A New Chapter.
On August 12, we introduce Summer Menu Vol. 4, the next seasonal chapter at SHŌ and a quiet marker of our first year.
Built around the height of the summer harvest, the menu celebrates ingredients at their most vibrant—from sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes to pristine seafood and stone fruit. This season, Chef Mari Katsumura looks to the flavors of France, drawing on its familiar preparations and reinterpreting them through the precision, balance and restraint that have long defined her cooking.
Like every menu at SHŌ, the experience unfolds course by course, with each dish building naturally into the next. Every element is guided by seasonality, intention and a deep respect for the integrity of each ingredient.
Summer Menu Vol. 4 begins August 12.
Shōjin Ryōri Vegan Tasting Menu
On August 12, SHŌ introduces Shōjin, a new plant-based omakase inspired by Shōjin Ryōri, the centuries-old cuisine of Japanese Buddhist temples.
Rooted in mindfulness, seasonality and respect for all living beings, Shōjin Ryōri celebrates the remarkable depth and complexity of vegetables, tofu, grains and mountain ingredients through simplicity, balance and technique.
Executive Chef Mari Katsumura's interpretation honors these traditions while embracing a contemporary perspective.
SPRING VOL. 3
SHŌ welcomes spring with a new evolution of our ten-course tasting experience—an expression of the season’s freshness, elegance, and energy. Japanese technique remains at the heart of the menu, with vibrant ingredients, delicate textures, refined flavors, and global influences coming together in a lighter, more dynamic progression. Thoughtful contrasts and moments of unexpected richness carry the experience forward, capturing the beauty and sense of renewal that define springtime.
WINTER VOL. 2
SHŌ enters its next chapter with Menu Vol. 2, a winter evolution of our ten-course tasting experience. Rooted in Japanese technique and shaped by global influences, the new menu leans into the season with deeper, more savory flavors and warming richness, balanced by moments of brightness and contrast. Like a sophomore album, Vol. 2 keeps the DNA of SHŌ intact while pushing its identity forward with sharper pacing, bolder expression, and a few unexpected turns along the way.
SUMMER VOL. 1
This summer, SHŌ debuts a genre-defying take on omakase: an intimate, 40-seat dining experience where Japanese tradition is refracted through a modern, mood-rich lens. The new concept comes from Adam Sindler, a fourth-generation restaurateur and steward of one of Chicago’s most storied Japanese dining institutions, alongside Executive Chef Mari Katsumura, an award-winning talent with equally deep roots in the city’s fine-dining landscape.
Both a tribute to legacy and a break from convention, SHŌ tosses the rulebook on what omakase “should” be. Its curated soundscape, kinetic interiors, and globally attuned tasting menu come together in a multisensory format that favors rhythm over ritual—immersive, expressive, and tuned to the moment.