‘World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ recognizes first L.A. restaurant in more than a decade

For the first time in more than a decade, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants will recognize a Los Angeles restaurant with an award. The organization, which puts out the annual world’s 50 Best Restaurants list, has named Kato the recipient of the 2024 Resy One to Watch award.

While Kato didn’t make the actual World’s 50 Best list this year, the recognition is an acknowledgment of a restaurant’s potential to be named to the list at some point in the future.

“Los Angeles has one of the most exciting and diverse dining scenes in the world right now,” William Drew, director of content for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, said in a statement to The Times. “Kato is representative of Southern California as a region, reflecting Jon Yao’s own experience as an Asian American growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, but also embodying the dynamic gastronomic spirit of Los Angeles.”

Kato business partners, from left: Nikki Reginaldo, chef Jon Yao and Ryan Bailey outside the restaurants’ new location at the Row DTLA.

(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

For those familiar with the trajectory of Yao’s career, the accolade comes as no great surprise. Kato, run by co-owners Yao and Ryan Bailey and general manager Nikki Reginaldo, is nostalgic Taiwanese-inspired food presented as fine dining on a level that’s both comforting and thrilling.

The restaurant claimed the top spot on The Times’ 2019 101 Best Restaurants list. After the restaurant moved from its original strip mall location in West Los Angeles to Row DTLA in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, critic Bill Addison made it No. 1 on The Times’ 2023 list.

The new, larger space and the addition of lead bartender Han Suk Cho and bar director Austin Hennelly further helped establish the restaurant as a global dining destination.

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“Ever since we moved, we’ve tried to find ways to celebrate and champion diasporic food,” Yao said in a statement to The Times. “We’re as proud and firm in the identity of our restaurant now more than ever and we’re grateful to have an international spotlight on Los Angeles. We hope that others will find the beauty that we see everyday in our community, team and industry.”

Past recipients of the Resy One to Watch award include Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi in New York City in 2023 and AM par Alexandre Mazzia in France in 2022.

There have been only three Los Angeles restaurants on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list — Ginza Sushiko in 2002, Spago in 2004 and the Bazaar by José Andrés on the extended 51-to-100 list in 2011.

Han Suk Cho, lead bartender at Kato restaurant in Los Angeles, and Austin Hennelly, bar director, are photographed inside the restaurant.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Bailey hopes the award will be a boost for the larger restaurant industry in Los Angeles, which saw a staggering number of closures in 2023.

“Operators are struggling with historic rises in cost of goods, a decreasing pool of qualified applicants, adapting labor models to quickly changing minimum wages and new regulations from the state such as SB 478, which eliminated all the recent hard work that went into resolving pay discrepancy between service and culinary roles,” Bailey said. “Hopefully, this acknowledgment brings with it some more eyes to this city’s one-of-a-kind hospitality scene, and encourages those from all over the world to visit and experience the many amazing restaurants in our community.”

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is chosen by a panel of more than 1,000 culinary experts. British magazine Restaurant put together the first list in 2002. The 50 Best brand, which includes the World’s 50 Best bars, World’s 50 Best hotels and World’s 50 Best restaurants lists in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and Latin America, is owned and managed by William Reed.

The full list of awards will be announced at a ceremony June 5 at the Wynn Las Vegas in Nevada.

“The restaurant has become a way to honor my parents and the strength of the generations before them that allowed us to thrive now,” Yao said. “The award recognizes the work of our staff and amplifies our mission statement and for that we are extremely grateful.”