The Thoughtful Preparation Behind Kato's Michelin-Starred Tasting Menu
First, Yao preps his recreation of Zī Rán Yáng, a cumin lamb stir fry dish from Northern China, with thick slices of aged lamb saddles cooked over a hearth and dusted with Kato's cumin spice blend. Rather than hoping for diners to have that Ratatoiulle moment, where the chef has created a dish that perfectly encapsulates a food memory from their childhood, Yao says he wants 'them to feel some sense of nostalgia regardless of what background they come from.'
A day at Kato starts with morning sous chef Jivani Roldan prepping the dashi, a Japanese fish and kombu (dried seaweed) broth, by painstakingly shaving petrified skipjack tuna, cooking down the broth, and double straining it. Yao and Roldan check on the dozens of air-drying quail in the walk-in refrigerator, which Yao jokes is the same size as Kato's former kitchen in West LA. These quails are dry-aged, cured overnight, and air-dried for a few days before being coated in a maltose bath, lacquered in a sugar mixture, and lightly smoked before dinner service even starts. Yao believes all these small details in the process of prepping these dishes 'compounds' to create something extraordinary.
Executive sous chef Alan Thau preps the crab, pulling all the meat out of the steamed shells with tweezers and then shining a black light over the crab meat to thoroughly check for any shells. Those crab shells are toasted in the oven and added to chicken stock, recreating the taste of shark fin soup, a delicacy in China and Southeast Asia, without having to use shark fins. Dry-aged sablefish is also prepped, cut down into 50 gram portions, and marinated in sour cabbage and mustard green broth, giving it a fermented flavor.
Two hours before service, components of each dish are meticulously laid out on trays for Yao to taste, so he can make sure each sauce, custard, glaze, and prepped ingredient is ready for service. The kitchen has a complete turnover before service, with Yao talking through any adjustments to the menu and guest's dietary restrictions before the frenzy of plating the first course.
Yao describes the 11 to 12 course menu as having 'pits and peaks throughout,' with plenty of starches and protein-filled courses throughout the meal. The quail is bathed in hot oil and baked in the oven and the sablefish is grilled and cooked in the hearth, before being plated. Diners leaving Kato should not only feel satiated but 'proud of their heritage,' Yao says. 'That's the beauty of fine dining right now. You get a lot of different stories and visions and opinions and perspectives. It's not so homogenous.'
Watch the latest episode of Mise en Place to see how Yao and his team at Kato prepare crispy lamb, succulent quail, and seared sablefish at one of the hottest restaurants in Los Angeles. See More:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Watch: Scott Adkins dominates underground fights in 'Prisoner of War'
1 of 5 | James Wright's (Scott Adkins) war isn't over in "Prisoner of War," in theaters and VOD Sept. 19. Photo courtesy of Well Go USA July 25 (UPI) -- Well Go USA released the trailer for Prisoner of War on Friday. The film opens in theaters and video-on-demand Sept. 19. Scott Adkins plays James Wright, a British SAS officer shot down during World War II. Captured and put in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in the Philippines, Wright is enlisted in the camp's brutal no holds barred fights. As Wright, Adkins displays his formidable martial arts skills to the chagrin of the Japanese Lt. Col. Ito (Peter Shinkoda). Louis Mandylor directed Prisoner of War. As an actor, Mandylor co-starred with Adkins in the Debt Collector movies. Adkins also shares writing credit with Mark Clebanoff. Michael Chapon and Masanori Mimoto also star. Prisoner of War will screen at the Big Bad Film Festival in August ahead of its release.
Eater
an hour ago
- Eater
The Langbaan Team Will Open a Thai Restaurant (Potentially) in Pok Pok's SE Division Building
is the regional editor for Eater's Northern California/Pacific Northwest sites, writing about restaurant and bar trends, upcoming openings, and pop-ups for the San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, Seattle, and Denver. Fans of blind items may have been tickled to see an article from the Oregonian tease a possible new restaurant from the James Beard Award-winning Langbaan team, but it appears the news is true: Chef Akkapong 'Earl' Ninsom confirms that he, along with Eric Nelson and chef Sam Smith of Yaowarat, will open a new restaurant dubbed OK Chicken & Khaosoi. 'Our vision is to bring a Northern Thai dining experience back to Portland — something the city has been missing since early in the pandemic,' Ninsom writes in an email to Eater. While that news in itself is worthy of excitement, exactly where the restaurant may set up shop is, in itself, a surprise. While the team is still in the lease negotiation process, if all goes well, they will take over the former Pok Pok space at 3226 SE Division Street. A tentative opening date of winter 2025 is set. (Again, if things work out with the space.) 'We feel the location — with its existing Northern Thai feel and history — would be a perfect fit for the concept we're exploring,' Ninsom writes in an email to Eater. The exterior of Pok Pok, as seen on June 17, 2020. Bloomberg via Getty Images Ninsom shares that the team is exploring a restaurant 'that balances fun and approachability with a practical, sustainable model.' What that means is counter-service or bar-style ordering, with a simple order sheet for diners to fill out, before settling into a table. Ninsom points to this model as something the team has seen in their previous research trips. 'As for the concept itself — Northern Thai flavors, late-night energy, possibly with karaoke — we see it as a way to fill a gap while also creating a place that feels vibrant but operationally efficient,' Ninsom writes. 'It's still early, so we don't have firm timelines (hoping for this winter if all goes as planned).' Meanwhile, food reporters have been trying to parse out more details via the new restaurant's Instagram page. Ninsom, Nelson, and Smith highlighted some of the dishes they sampled on a recent trip, which the Oregonian reports was 'a research trip specifically to study Northern Thai cuisine, which had [been] Pok Pok's specialty.' Parsing through the photos, the Oregonian specifically pointed to a Pok Pok-like whole roasted chicken; the photos also tease laab muang, or Northern Thai-style laab, as well as som tum, and other dishes. The winner khao soi bowl of the trip, highlighted on the Instagram page, points to a Muslim version from Khao Soi Lung Surin in the Chiang Mai village of Doi Pui, per the caption. The team is already testing the namesake khao soi at Yaowarat's staff meal (of which all staff meals are diligently catalogued on @yaowaratpdx_staff_meal). Looks like you'll have to join the Yaowarat team to get an early taste, suggests Nelson, or wait patiently for the grand opening. Eater Portland All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
3 hours ago
- Eater
The 2025 Bite of Seattle Is Here
The Bite of Seattle, the city's most famous food festival, has returned right now, this weekend, to Seattle Center. From Friday, July 25, to Sunday, July 27, you'll be able to sample food from hundreds of vendors, watch live cooking demos and competitions, and take in dozens of musical acts, including a funk band called Montlake Traffic. Best of all, admission to the Bite is free. The Bite of Seattle was founded all the way back in the 1980s but has undergone some recent changes. From 2020 to 2022, when pandemic lockdowns put the kibosh on large gatherings, the Bite was cancelled. In 2023, digital payment startup Cheq bought the festival, but that year's event was marked by confusion and long lines as vendors and attendees struggled to use the Cheq app. Cheq then sold the Bite to an events company called Foodieland, which put on a snafu-free Bite last year. This year attendees can expect the usual mix of street food, stunt food (you can buy a huge baby bottle of juice), food from well-known Seattle restaurants, and food from small operations you might never have heard of. And when you're done eating, you can browse the vendors selling arts, jewelry, and other non-food treats. The Bite of Seattle at Seattle Center runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26, and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. For a full list of vendors, musical acts, and live performances, go here. Homer home again Two months after being forced to closed due to a fire, beloved Beacon Hill restaurant Homer is reopening on August 1. 'What a roller coast the last couple months have been,' the owners wrote on Instagram. 'Thank you for all of the check-ins, well wishes, gift card purchases, and reassurances that you'll still be here come August and beyond (but not all at once, please!).' If you're planning a visit to celebrate its return, remember that Homer doesn't accept reservations except for large parties. Sun Sui Wah rebrands Last year, famed dim sum establishment Sun Sui Wah, which has two locations in British Columbia, Canada, opened in Bellevue to a lot of hype, one of several hot new dim sum openings in 2024. The Seattle Times reviewed Sun Sui Wah this week and found it to be lacking. 'From the beginning, the word from dim sum aficionados was that the quality and execution was inconsistent,' the Times wrote, adding that Sun Sui Wah's struggles may stem from a lack of skilled dim sum kitchen workers in the local labor pool. Restaurant management apparently agrees with some of this assessment — owner Ken Tan told the Times he's bought out his Canadian partners and plans to 'rework and rename the restaurant this fall.' Redmond gets a Momoji More Eastside news: The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that Momoji, a Japanese restaurant with two locations, has opened a third in Redmond, specifically in the mixed-used Eastline development, near the Downtown Redmond light rail stop. Owner Steven Han, who founded Momoji in 2011, also owns Umi Sake House. The new Momoji, like the other Momojis, is serving sushi and sashimi plus karaage, yakisoba, and other classic Japanese dishes. Eater Seattle All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
