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Kato, according to co-owner and wine director Ryan Bailey
Where: Los Angeles
The growth: Jon Yao opened Kato in an LA strip mall in 2016 as a tiny operation. The restaurant, with its then-$55 and -$80 tasting menus, was a food-media darling: In 2019, it earned a Michelin star and topped the Los Angeles Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list. Though the team was already planning to expand, COVID-19 accelerated the necessity of moving. In 2022, Kato reopened in a much-larger space and built up its menus, beverage program, and staff. Here, co-owner, director of operations, and wine director Ryan Bailey explains what it was like taking over such a large restaurant.
Size of restaurant in 2020: 850 square feet, 24 seats (20 dining room, 4 bar)
Size of restaurant now: 4,700 square feet, 56 seats (48 dining room, 6 bar, 2 ADA bar)
On finding a space
We didn’t think we needed over 4,500 square feet. But what it did allow us to do was space out our tables 3-plus feet so guests felt comfortable dining indoors. We’ve kept that because it gives our guests a sense of intimacy. We have an outdoor patio. We don’t even use it, but we were excited to have that—should we have to do outdoor dining at another point in time, we don’t need to build it out in a parking spot.
On menu structure
The old space was all consistently one menu. At the new space, we have three different menus every night. In the main dining room, we offer a menu that is 12 courses, plus or minus one, and a three-hour dining experience. When we first opened, we had à la carte at the bar.
Because of the inconsistency of that, I can’t give you a wait time because some people order a lot and some people are in and out—we now have an abbreviated menu that is half the dining room time. It’s about an hour and a half, seven courses, and composed of our classic dishes and crowd favorites. We wanted a space for people who were traveling internationally or had read about these dishes in the past. We also have two seats at the bar that we reserve for walk-in drinks and à la carte bites.
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On a full beverage program
The old space didn’t have a liquor license, so the only beverage options were sparkling water and tea. We thought that if our aspirations were to build out an iconic LA restaurant and have it be a multicourse tasting menu, we should build out a wine program that mirrored that. We now have 3,000 wine selections in-house and over 15,000 bottles. We offer two pairings at night to go along with the food.
Our cocktail program has also developed extensively—we have a full pantry just for that. We also put a big emphasis on developing an alcohol-free program. We went essentially from having three drink options to having about 3,500 options for people to drink. Alcohol brings in between 15 and 20 percent of our revenue. If you look at that in terms of an à la carte restaurant that might serve more cocktails, that’s actually pretty low, but because our menu is $325, that skews the percentage upward toward the food.
On the operational benefits of expansion
We have more hands to free up the work, which allows for more time to develop new dishes. We have a way more extensive pantry. We’re more mindful of waste: In the old space, we didn’t really have anywhere to put things if we weren’t immediately using [them], but now, we can incorporate them into other projects. We have more cold storage, so we can take larger drops of things and work directly with the farmers.
On staffing up
We can have more individual roles for people. Nikki Reginaldo, my general manager and new managing partner, was doing everything and now I can have her focus on a better guest experience. When we moved, our team grew. With our team growing, we could give more opportunities to people.
