Dining

Kato 2.0

Chef Jon Yao relocates his Michelin-lauded Kato to downtown’s Row DTLA.

/ jenn tanaka /

Chef Jon Yao dreams of three Michelin stars.

His original Kato in West Los Angeles garnered one Michelin star in 2019, just three years after it opened, and last year he received the Michelin Guide’s young chef award. But Yao has always set his sights for the top, and now, with Kato’s new location downtown, his three-star aspiration seems significantly more attainable.

This year, Yao and Like Water Hospitality partners Nikki Reginald and Ryan Bailey transported Kato from its humble Sawtelle-adjacent strip mall space to the culinary playground Row DTLA.

The new spot puts Kato in good company; neighbors include chef Brandon Go’s Michelin-lauded Hayato and

Seared sea breamwrapped aromatic vegetables at new Kato. Opposite from left: partners Ryan Bailey, chef Jon Yao and Nikki Reginald.

Jon Yao’s Wagyu with black garlic and, below, the Kato dining room.

the weekly Smorgasburg open-air market.

The large space has a gallery-like dining room, with wooden tables and yellow-accented chairs, and a bar, not at the previous location. Yao, dressed in black, oversees each dish in the open kitchen.

The tasting menu might start with a sea-urchin donut with Iberico ham and browned butter, then a dish of Kaluga caviar, geoduck, squashini and koji served with warm, pillowy-soft milk bread.

A recent meal continued with a version of suan cai yu with fermented napa cabbage and Chinese mustard relish; its delicate Chinese mustard broth, a fumetlike tisane made with fish bones and michiu, was ladled tableside.

Yao’s take on shun de yu sheng features slices of coal-seared sea bream wrapped around aromatic parcels of perilla and radish. The bundles are served with a Taiwanese “five flavor” sauce infused with perilla house-made chili oil.

Kato’s tasting menu often reflects Yao’s

heritage. A palate cleanser reminiscent of the shaved-ice confection found in San Gabriel Valley’s Taiwanese cafes is a nostalgic nod to his childhood. The chef’s pâte de fruit and glossy chocolate truffles provide a more classic finish.

The extensive wine and spirits list spotlights white wines from the Loire Valley, red wines from Burgundy, Taiwanese whiskies and inventive cocktails. Vintage-wine and alcohol-free flights are also available. 777 S. Alameda St., downtown, katorestaurant.com

“Devastatingly intimate”

— THE NEW YORK TIMES

by

ANTON CHEKHOV

Directed by

MICHAEL MICHETTI

Translated by

RICHARD NELSON, RICHARD PEVEAR, and LARISSA VOLOKHONSKY

JUN 1 - JUN 26

FEATURE

/CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

On July 27, a concert commemorating Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra pays tribute to the woman who headlined the firstever live television broadcast at the Bowl, The Colgate Comedy Hour, and the pop crooner whose first appearance was controversial because he wasn’t considered a “legitimate” artist by some.

There’s also an uncanny, and meaningful, connection between Bowl founder Carter and Dudamel, says Traub, LA Phil’s manager of philanthropy communications.

“You have these two people who passionately and profoundly believe that music can change everything—lives and families and communities—and that it’s this instrument of building democracy,” he notes. “And to see them sepabetween 150 and 200 photos for publication.

The book’s 10 thematic chapters consider various aspects of the Bowl such as the part it has played in politics. There are also interviews with Bowl patrons about why the venue is special to them.

“We really wanted this book to feel different,” Traub says. “We wanted it to feel like a look into the Bowl’s unknown history. A lot of the stories in the book are passed down from generation to generation. We wanted to invite people in with that.”

It’s not just audience members who love the Bowl; numerous artists come back time and again. Joshua Bell, who performs the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Aug. 12 and 13, estimates he’s played there about 20 times since his debut in 1986.

“It’s a special atmosphere for a classical venue. I love that it’s not just used for rock concerts, that it’s used for classical concerts and packs in 10,000 people or more to hear Beethoven or Tchaikovsky,” he says.

“You get your music connoisseurs and you get your people who don’t go to classical concerts very often, but who are listening to classical music and enjoying the atmosphere.

“It’s become a ritual of sorts for me—there are

rated by 100 years and by two continents [Dudamel is from Venezuela], yet their words are almost identical, it was one of those things where you realize, ‘Oh, the DNA of who we are today started at the very beginning.’

“I’ve been a writer at the LA Phil for a decade— I’ve read every word that Gustavo has said for the last 10 years. To hear his beliefs coming out of the mouth of this woman who was born in Missouri in the 1880s was absolutely mind-blowing.”

It took Traub a year to research the Hollywood Bowl book and another year to write it and participate in its editing. He and others went through hundreds of boxes of letters, programs, production notes and thousands of photographs in the LA Phil archives and in collections elsewhere; they selected

Hollywood Bowl: The First 100 Years and, above, author Derek Traub

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Background art by Vecteezy never two days in a row in my life that are the same, so it’s nice that there’s some place that I enjoy almost yearly for 30 years.

“It has so many memories for me,” Bell adds.

Among them, he cites meeting one of his best friends, actor Matthew Labyorteaux, at a rehearsal for his debut, and, of course, his 2005 induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.

“It was probably the most packed [Bowl audience] I’ve ever played for,” Bell recalls. “There was a blimp up in the sky, with [the three inductees’] names. That’s the only time you’ll see my name next to Frank Sinatra and Trisha Yearwood!

“But I guess that sums up the Hollywood Bowl— it embraces all music. That was kind of cool.”

Cool, indeed. Happy 100th, Hollywood Bowl!

Joshua Bell