As the Los Angeles dining scene heats up, one Taiwanese-American restaurant is scorching a path to international acclaim. Kato, led by chef Jon Yao, has been named winner of the Resy One To Watch Award as part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, reflecting its young team’s distinctive story-telling ability. Here’s what makes it so special
Step into Kato’s dining room, ensconced in natural wood tones, and you’ll immediately notice how the space is a meditation on minimalism. Calmness emanates from the open kitchen – complete with wood-burning hearth – where cooks and servers move around deftly, simply but stylishly coiffed in greys. Indie and R&B music hums gently overhead.
At the eight-seat bar to the right, aficionados sip on elegantly procured cocktails, both boozy and non-alcoholic, while bar director Austin Hennelly deploys drinks from his station. General manager Nikki Reginaldo beckons you in warmly, escorting you to your table.
Kato is a love letter to the San Gabriel Valley, filled with pieces by local Asian-American artists
After experiencing a tasting menu here, it’s hard for many diners to believe executive chef Jon Yao first opened his restaurant eight years ago as the evolution of a lunch-box business his parents first started. Today, the Taiwanese-American restaurant is very much of its time and place, when Los Angeles is one of the most exciting dining destinations. In fact, Kato began life in a space one-quarter of the size it now occupies, in a humble strip mall on the opposite side of the city. At that time, Yao was just 25 years old.
It’s now been in its current location in Downtown Los Angeles’ The Row for more than two years, and it’s safe to say Kato has grown well into itself, finally having the room to spread its wings. It has just garnered the top spot in the Los Angeles Times’ 101 Restaurants list for the second time in five years, as a precursor to this game-changing recognition as the Resy One To Watch, part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
Yao has always drawn inspiration from his background, having grown up in nearby San Gabriel Valley, home to the largest Asian-American population in the US. “Kato started off as an incubation project and has evolved into an exploration of my heritage and the Asian diaspora in our region,” says Yao. “People like to say it’s Chinese or Taiwanese… but it’s actually more like Southern California food.”
The food evokes nostalgia, like Yao's take on basil and clams stir-fry made with sablefish
The way Yao can reimagine a classic Taiwanese dish pulls at the nostalgic heartstrings of those who are familiar; luxurious but surprising ingredients prepared with unparalleled technique and whimsy woo all comers. One of the signatures in Kato’s tome, initially brought over from the previous location, is its three-cup abalone. It takes the usual rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil preparation to a perfectly seared, then sliced, abalone steak presented within its asymmetrically oblong shell, furnished with the sauce of its stem and a tiny Thai basil leaf.
In another instance, Yao has played with the flavours of beef noodle soup, reducing it to a chilli-laden sauce and presented with wagyu or duck, topped with morel and cordycep for an extra savoury, but balanced, course. But the most iconic dish is surely the tilefish, sourced from Yamaguchi, Japan. It’s cooked over binchotan and almond embers, the scales scorched with hot oil, making them crispy and perpendicular, like sails on a boat. Served with a basil and clam broth, the tender fish is juxtaposed with its crispy scales for an aromatically beautiful study in sourcing and composition.
Kato wouldn’t be what it is without director of operations Ryan Bailey’s wine knowledge and seasoned expertise. The wine list runs 2,000 selections deep, but all is put to good use thanks to Bailey’s experience pairing the Chinese, Taiwanese and other Asian flavours found in Yao’s food. Sparkling options offer the sort of texture that works with the more delicate notes in aromatic dishes, as do wines with acidity and brightness, while wines that are a tad oxidative pair well with savoury flavours in other courses. Upgrade to the vintage reserve wine pairing, and you’ll be tasting some rare bottles.
Bar director Austin Hennelly supercharges classic cocktails with ingredients like bitter melon, umeshu and five spice
And then there’s the bar, where there’s a tasting menu available for parties of one to two, and you’ll have a shortened (but just as special) experience. It’s also the part of the restaurant open for walk-ins, should they be available. Hennelly has created a distinctive bar programme that presents well-balanced and easy to sip drinks that complement the many courses presented in the dining room.
But the stars are those cocktails that shine on their own at the bar. Hennelly, who previously led the bar at fellow LA restaurant Majordōmo, adds umeshu to his sloe gin fizz, aerating it with egg white, lemon and cream. He’ll also procure unique expressions of Kavalan whisky to infuse with jujube and elevate his old fashioned. And while other bartenders might feel as if they’ve been dragged into the non-alcoholic movement of late, Hennelly charged into that space the moment Kato reopened. For his Amazake Swizzle, he employs masala chai, accented with coconut, almond and lime for a smooth but lightly spiced drink.
The way Kato has come to fruition in its Downtown space is the realisation of a dream Yao never knew he had. Originally studying to be a lawyer, his love for cooking stems from his family, prompting brief internships at Benu and Coi in San Francisco. But as Kato evolved in its fine dining space, he strove to make the food more and more personal, evocative of his journey in life.
Jon Yao started Kato eight years ago in a pocket-sized strip mall unit on the other side of LA
“It’s about honouring the traditions and fortitude that allowed my family and other immigrant families to endure and thrive in America,” he says.
And in that sense, the path Kato took became the journey for Yao. “I want to share the food memories of my childhood and, through those shared memories, I want people to find power in their identity and develop a stronger sense of empathy regardless of their backgrounds.”
That journey and the namesake of the restaurant offers a touch of irony, as Kato was the sidekick character to The Green Hornet that Bruce Lee played on TV in the 1960s. While Bruce Lee is immortalised as the quintessential Asian-American hero in pop culture, Kato is now slated to play a starring role in Californian, American and international gastronomy.
Take a look inside Kato and hear from the team behind one of LA's hottest dining destinations
The list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, will be announced on Wednesday 5 June from Las Vegas. To stay up to date with the latest news, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube, and sign up to our newsletter.
