Kato Restaurant
Taiwanese restaurant · Downtown Los Angeles ·
Michelin-starred tasting menu blending Taiwanese & LA flavors
Michelin-starred tasting menu blending Taiwanese & LA flavors
"Jonathan Yao’s serene tasting room turns L.A.’s cultural diversity into a narrative, weaving Taiwanese techniques, Californian produce and Japanese restraint into dishes that feel like art direction you can eat." - Ty Gaskins
"Most often, getting an elegant fish maw dish might require a Cantonese banquet but Jon Yao has a pulse on presenting upscale Chinese flavors to a new audience at Kato. Yao served a tight six-course menu (for a special event announcing the inaugural North America’s 50 Best Restaurants), which ran through some of his greatest hits served in years past. This chawanmushi blended elements of yudu geng, a classic fish and crab soup topped here with a pearlescent mound of caviar. A bit of Chinese black vinegar came on the side to bring a profound tang to the otherwise savory bowl. Other dishes were delightful, including wood-roasted quail and Yao’s timeless oil-crisped rock cod. Still, I’d rather eat an entire sharing bowl of this fish maw soup. — Matthew Kang, correspondent, Eater" - Matthew Kang
"Kato in Los Angeles was described both as a pricey tasting-menu restaurant and as offering food from Taiwan, illustrating the list’s combination of high-end technique and international culinary roots." - Matthew Kang
"A Taiwanese testing menu restaurant in Los Angeles, this spot landed at number 26 on the inaugural North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list and retained its Michelin star at the 2025 ceremony." - Rebecca Roland
"The latest installment of Kato’s Summer Series, a dinner collaboration series bringing chefs from across Los Angeles to the Row DTLA, welcomed Evan Funke. On Sunday night, Funke could be spotted in the corner of the spacious tasting menu restaurant, clad in a denim shirt and apron, rolling out sheets of pasta by hand. Each dish channeled a bit of Funke and Yao: think chile crisp-topped burrata and tomatoes; cacio e pepe tossed with zingy Taiwanese pepper. The xiao long bao tortelloni stood out among the other dishes for its carefully folded edges, holding in a rich broth; its thin and slightly chewy outer layer; and its pouch filled with pork and prawn. There was only one in the dish, but I would have been happy if the entire meal had been just a steamer full of these. It’s nice to see a fine dining restaurant let loose a little at collaborations, with hip-hop blaring over the speakers and menus that read like a chef’s fever dream." - Eater Staff