“There’s no other place like this” is usually an exaggeration. For West Town’s Atsumeru, it’s not. After 12-courses of incredible bites like foie-filled krumkake with cloudberry jam, and chawanmushi with trout, prawn, and galangal sauce, Chicago’s only Japanese-Nordic restaurant proves it's far from a $165 seafood-centric novelty. Some dishes are an instant dopamine boost, like a gjetost pâte à choux that’s part of the first bites in their basement lounge. Others—like creamy sushi rice with pickled, fried, and binchotan-grilled mushrooms—invite you to meditate on their complexity while ambient music plays in the minimalist first-floor dining room. Reservations are still fairly easy to get—so beat the rush before Japanese-Nordic cuisine becomes everyone’s next food obsession.