"Idaho's first James Beard Award winner serves one five-course dinner a night — three hours of theatre in a downtown Boise basement."
KIN opened in 2020 on West Main Street in downtown Boise, a dark, modern basement room that holds a single seating each evening. Chef Kris Komori and partner Remi McManus run it as one continuous experience rather than an à-la-carte service.
In 2023 Komori won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef: Mountain region — the first time an Idaho chef had taken a James Beard cooking award. It put a small Boise basement on the national map.
There is one menu: a five-course dinner at $95 per person, with an optional beverage pairing at $40. The kitchen rewrites it roughly every five weeks and never repeats a course, threading the dishes together through storytelling across a roughly three-hour meal.
Plates lean conceptual and produce-driven — past courses have included duck served three ways with orange kosho, and a strawberry-and-kimchi soup with slivered scallop. It is cooking that asks you to pay attention.
The room seats a small number of guests at a single 7pm start (6:15 on Saturdays), in a communal, low-lit setting that turns dinner into something closer to a performance. There is no rushing it and no menu to flip through — the night unfolds as the kitchen intends.
It is intimate by design, which is why it books out.
KIN is the Boise answer when the dinner is the whole evening — an anniversary, a birthday, or visitors who want to understand why Idaho suddenly has a James Beard winner. The single seating and tasting format make it a commitment, in the best way. For Basque cooking in town, compare Leku Ona or Ansots.
Not for a spontaneous, flexible or quick dinner — there's one fixed five-course menu, a single nightly seating, and no à la carte option.
Yes. In 2023 chef Kris Komori won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in the Mountain region — the first James Beard cooking award for an Idaho chef.
KIN serves one five-course menu per night at $95 per person, with an optional $40 beverage pairing. There is a single communal seating at 7pm (6:15pm on Saturdays).
Kris Komori, who opened KIN in 2020 with partner Remi McManus. He studied culinary arts in Vermont after a biology degree in Idaho.
About three hours. The menu changes roughly every five weeks, never repeats a course, and is presented through storytelling across the evening.
Yes. With only one seating a night, reservations are essential and release in advance through the restaurant.
One seating nightly at 7pm (6:15pm Saturdays). Reservations are required and release in advance.
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
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