Kato Already Has One Michelin Star. Chef Jon Yao Wants More

In early 2021, chef Jon Yao’s Michelin-starred restaurant Kato moved from a scrappy West LA strip mall to the polished confines of the Row in Downtown. On the eve of the restaurant’s reopening in February 2022, Yao told Eater that he was thankful for the space. Though the chef appreciated the building’s increased square footage, doubled dining capacity, and hearth-warming open kitchen, Yao was even more grateful for the emotional space to reconsider the fine dining experience the new address allowed for. “I always thought that the old space was an incubator. We were trying to collect dishes and techniques to ultimately take elsewhere,” says Yao. “We wanted the space to have everyone grow and to do something for our communities and our heritage.”