"Chef Jon Yao and his team have carried the torch of Taiwanese cuisine for almost seven years since its origins at a West LA strip mall. In its dining room in Downtown LA’s expansive Row project, Kato has a menu focused on the subtle, elegant flavors served in a handsome but relaxed space. The tasting menu, featuring intricate bites of caviar-studded Dungeness crab with Chinese celery or grilled freshwater eel served over seaweed fried rice, costs about twice what it did in West LA. But the menu boasts a more thoughtful progression of whimsical bites to more substantial explorations of Taiwanese comfort fare, and the service situation is multitudes better than the original Kato. Plus, everything from the wine list to the cocktail menu are world-class, with compelling vintage bottles to inventive milk punches or shaken drinks designed by bartender Austin Hennelly. — Matthew Kang, lead editor" - Cathy Chaplin, Eater Staff
