Hot pot. Stir-fried clams with basil. Newport Seafood’s famous peppery lobster. The dishes Jon Yao grew up loving in the San Gabriel Valley are the seeds from which his one-of-a-kind cuisine comes to light. A conception like smoky grilled lobster set over a buttery riff on shrimp toast, intensified with pepper relish and a fathomless black bean sauce, won’t visually resemble its source of inspiration. Yet the flavors contain not only Yao’s culinary DNA but also a collective memory of what it means to dine in Los Angeles.
There is arguably no more ambitious chef in the city than Yao, who strives constantly to grow in his artistry, his grasp of technique and his insight into his own identity. During a tasting menu of a dozen or so courses, expect sculptural plates and reductions distilled from so many ingredients you’ll forget them 10 seconds after the good-hearted server rattles them off. What matters, from cured tuna scented with coriander to a final cream puff balancing salted egg yolk and brown sugar, is that they delight.
Nearly three years ago Yao and his team moved into the airy, wood-and-concrete-lined space in Row DTLA. The restaurant started as a bootstrap operation in a West L.A. strip mall in 2016 and has expanded in every dimension. Managing partner Nikki Reginaldo leads an ever-more-gracious staff. Ryan Bailey, who co-owns Kato with Yao, has amassed a wine list of nearly 3,000 bottles — and, like all the greatest sommeliers, his conversation and wit take the stress out of deciphering an overwhelming document. Bar director Austin Hennelly has my vote for the city’s greatest bartender; his nonalcoholic program alone changes the game.
This is Kato’s second consecutive year in the No. 1 position. Over the last few months Jenn and I ate at hundreds of restaurants, separately and together, to narrow down our rankings. We shared a meal at Kato as the project was winding down. By dinner’s end, our bowls of peach shaved ice scraped clean, we agreed without question: For its across-the-board excellence, and the only-in-L.A. spirit that animates every detail, Kato earns the crowning slot. — B.A.
777 S. ALAMEDA ST., BUILDING 1, SUITE 114, LOS ANGELES, (213) 797-5770 l KATORESTAURANT.COM
Clockwise from far left, Kato’s Ryan Bailey, Nikki Reginaldo and Jon Yao at the restaurant at Row DTLA; grilled lobster over milk bread toast and peppery black bean sauce, an homage to Newport Seafood’s signature dish; tuna flavored with coriander and chile. 
