Kristen Kish, star of The Traitors season 4 and the host of Bravo’s Top Chef, has named her favorite restaurant in L.A. as a Michelin-starred omakase-style dining room in downtown Los Angeles.
“One of my favorite places is Kato,” Kish tells Secret Los Angeles. “It’s an incredible tasting menu.”
Food is served omakase-style and described as Taiwanese fine dining. The professional chef commends her colleague, Jon Yao, as “such a talented chef.”
“I think he has seven courses, but somehow at the end of it, you have like 15 of them,” she says. “Whatever he’s cooking, you’re eating.”
Inside Kato at ROW DTLA
This restaurant runs out of the ROW complex in DTLA. Yao anchors the kitchen with a Taiwanese-inspired tasting menu, and the menu is completely up to him. Their $325 meal “focuses on seasonality and innovation,” per the restaurant’s site description.
Guests can also order wine flights or their bar tasting menu.
Kato won its first Michelin star in 2025.
“Chef Jonathan Yao is on a mission, deftly drawing on his Taiwanese background to deliver inspired, bold dishes,” reads the Michelin guide description.
“Far from his first location, the Row DTLA dining room is a cool enclave of polished concrete, steel, plate glass and light wood furnishings, along with an open kitchen that features prominently. It is a beautiful stage for his tasting menu, which is not shy about seasoning. Fish maw with Dungeness crab, custard and caviar comes with a crab shell-infused red vinegar for maximum impact. Spice-crusted duck breast taps into nostalgia with a fluffy bao bun. A recent riff on pig ears with summer tomatoes buzzed with a fiery chili oil. To boot, the cocktail program features impressively crafted alcoholic and spirit-free creations.”
Reservations are available here for anyone ready to splurge – and hand over the dinner reins to Yao.
