For almost six years in the west LA location KATO’s beverage program was limited not only due to space restrictions, but also the months of red tape & $100k+ that would be required to obtain a liquor license in our state.
Luckily, after 3 years of searching, we were able to find a new home. With it brought on the opportunity to finally build out the beverage program we had been dreaming about. A place where the same authentic approach, deep passion, attention to detail, career accumulating skills & thoughtfulness to sourcing that was being applied to each dish could be matched by the beverage paired w/ it. Hours & hours of conversation prior to our doors reopening went into conceptualizing a program that at its core was about two key principals - inclusivity & excellence. Completely aware that the first of those words is thrown around loosely & often only as performative action or virtue signally, our beverage team developed a menu where no one at the table feels left out. Putting equally, if not more effort, into our alcohol free program as to our cocktails to guarantee everyone can cheers a special occasion. Aligning w/ our culinary department, behind the bar we source produce from our favorite local farmers, applying techniques that require hours if not days to one simple ingredient, & fill any nook of free time sourcing beautiful vintage glasses to present each drink in.When opportunities arise to develop our own unique offerings, we dove head first in collaborating w/ friends at Cole Ranch to make both our own wine & verjus, partnering w/ iconic Taiwanese Distiller Kavalan to bring over our Vinho Barrique finished whisky & after many years of development, a Taiwanese digestif.
Building a wine list that was balanced between approachable yet so immersive that both those just getting into wine & the most experienced enthusiasts could be inspired by it was a day one goal. A list that includes everything from bottles under $40 to the rarest wines in the world, new natural releases from local winemakers to wines aged for over a 100 years from a Spanish castle & flights that at one moment be incredibly classic to the next something done for the very first time.
Dropping:
@katorestaurant x @coleranchwines
2022 Savagnin, Mendocino California
After a bountiful harvest in our inaugural vintage of 2021, the sophomore release is incredibly limited with just 22 cases produced. This vintage is has intense aromatics of chamomile, sage, and dried pear while the ouille style finishes super fresh and bright on the palate.
Only available at KATO in Los Angeles, California.
📷: @colleenobrienphoto
Back story:
Friends for more than a decade, winemaker Mike Lucia and Kato co-owner /wine director Ryan Bailey, decided they wanted to create something unique and new for the restaurant’s move. Ryan had already begun wrapping his head around pairing Jon’s Taiwanese cuisine with wine and had fallen in love with the fact that wines from the Jura truly worked with dishes such as zhēng yú (black throat sea perch w/ fishbone tea and ginger) and jiucéngta chao gélí (tile fish with basil and clam).
After much discussion they landed on a bottling that would potentially be a first in the US, using newly grafted Savagnin vines from the historic Cole Ranch.
Now that an idea existed, they along with Chef Jon Yao set up an insane tasting of over 20 bottlings of Jura Savagnin. The goal was to learn and narrow down what style would align best with what they wanted to do.
To honor Jon’s grandfather, Yao Zuozhi – 姚佐治, we decided to professionally scan nine paintings he left him. Selecting a different vignette for our wine’s label each vintage.
Incredibly honored to be recognized with so many amazing restaurants on the Inaugural North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.
In no way would this have been possible without the hardworking/passion of our team, the diehard support of our guests, and perseverance of our community.
We take great pride in being a small representation of the city of Los Angeles. If you’ve been you know it’s the greatest food city in the world, and if you’ve haven’t yet — we are exited to welcome and share it with everyone!
@theworlds50best@wynnlasvegas@sanpellegrino_official@acquapanna
#NorthAmericas50Best #50BestRestaurants
Honored to be part of OpenTable’s 2026 Ambassador Council.
This industry runs on shared ideas, constant learning, and showing up for each other. I’m excited to collaborate with a group of operators and leaders who are pushing things forward in their own communities.
Looking forward to what we build together.
#OpenTableAmbassador
At KATO, every guest receives a wine list. That might sound simple, but it’s a deliberate choice.
For decades, the classic fine dining ritual involved a sommelier approaching the table with a single list — and then the awkward pause. Who do you hand it to? That moment, however unintentional, has long carried assumptions rooted in sexism, racism, and exclusion. Someone at the table was always deemed the decision-maker, and it was rarely a coincidence who that was.
We believe inclusivity begins the moment you sit down. Every guest deserves to see every option — wine, spirits, cocktails, and our alcohol-free offerings, which we pour just as much time, creativity, and care into as everything else on our list. Because a truly great beverage program isn’t just about what’s in the glass. It’s about who feels welcome to choose it.
📷: @colleenobrienphoto
Earthy carrots from @weiserfamilyfarms and floral passion fruit from @rincontropics combine to create the pairing for our yóutiáo - a cruller filled with urchin and brown butter. The clarified juices are steeped with Iron Goddess Oolong tea from Taiwan to add a subtle note of buckwheat and nutty oxidation.
Toasted cacao and black tea add complexity and tannin to dealcoholized Syrah from the South of France in the pairing for our hóngshāo ròu course. Wǔxiāng fěn - a spice blend of cinnamon, star anise, fennel, clove and Sichuan pepper - gives the drink a heady aroma.
For our suān cài yú course, the bar team mixes clarified cucumber and bitter melon from @yaochengfarm in Ventura County that they’ve steeped with bái mǔdān white tea. The cooling cucumber tempers the sharp bite of the bitter melon and the tea brings flavors of honey and golden hay.
The first sip of our alcohol free pairing is as playful as it is bracing. A mound of shaved ice in a vintage glass arrives at the table and a bartender pours a mixture of fresh pomegranate from JJ’s Lone Daughter Ranch, verjus rouge, Beijing yogurt and wǔ wèi zǐ - a berry that expresses all five tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. The ice collapses on itself, the drink is chilled and your meal is ready to begin.
📷: @colleenobrienphoto
For the past two years we have been working with our good friend Mike Lucia of Rootdown Wine Cellars to make something special for our beverage program.
What started out in 2024 with some extra fruit, an eight hour drive with an ice covered frozen keg in the back of a hertz rental car, and of course our trusty Spinzall, has evolved into a beverage that is utilized across the entire restaurant.
So we are happy to “formally” introduce you to the 2025 KATO x Rootdown, Cole Ranch Riesling Verjus from Mendocino California. This high elevation single vintage/varietal/vineyard verjus was bottled after three different filtrations.
The culinary team laid claim to the least filtered version, using it most recently as a base to slow cook central coast pears for our last dessert. Behind the bar the semi filtered verjus has made its way into orchard spritz in the fall and then in the ba la shaved iced this winter. And for those who pair their meal with our alcohol free flight, the final sip is an incredibly crisp glass of precise verjus served in a beautiful vintage roemer glass.
📷: @colleenobrienphoto
