When we say Shin Thompson’s mother squashed his dreams, we mean it.

Thompson’s mom fed him squash as a baby — he loved it — and today the lauded chef’s (Bonsoiree) Japanese brasserie, Kabocha (named after a varietal of squash), opens in the West Loop.

In the elegant, 100-seat dining room, the knobby vegetable is reflected in decor (kabocha-shaped light fixtures imported from Argentina) and on plates.

Slurp sweetly spicy kabocha-corn-apple soup drizzled with chile oil or cook-it-yourself shabu-shabu (rib-eye with mirin dashi). Nibble crudo flown in fresh from Japan and paper-thin duck confit pot stickers. A majestic shellfish “aquarium” (pictured, top) arrives in a plexiglass container studded with squid ink “coral.” Bonsoiree fans delight in reincarnated versions of Thompson’s Duck, Duck, Goose.

Wash everything down with Eastern-flecked cocktails garnished with herbs plucked from the adjacent garden.

Holy mother.

Kabocha, 952 West Lake Street, at Morgan Street (312-666-6214 or kabochachicago.com).

Photos: Galdones Photography / Courtesy of Kabocha