Hayato

Our Okami, Yuki, does all the calligraphy for our menus. (Okami-San is the job title for the woman who is in charge of all service and the curation of ambiance in a traditional Japanese establishment.) Yuki is very talented! She was hired in March of 2020 and is still patiently waiting for us to serve a single customer indoors at Hayato . Some people don’t know this, but I didn’t speak any Japanese until I started studying Japanese in college. Even after studying Japane...se for years, it took me many more years to be able to read and write Japanese. Of course my primary motivation for reading Japanese was to be able to read cookbooks and menus. I was always so captivated by the hand written menus I got in Japan, it was so frustrating not to be able to read them, and that has ultimately led to our bilingual calligraphy menus. Much of what I try to do at Hayato is to create something as I would expect to enjoy it in my favorite places in Japan, but also make it accessible and understandable for people who never have the opportunity to travel to Japan, or who can’t speak Japanese. When I see English menus in Japan, they are almost always different than the Japanese ones, and if you can’t read Japanese you know you are missing out on something! So we figured out a way to enjoy the artistry of Yuki’s calligraphy with an exact translation. . March Bento reservations are scheduled to release at 10am today. Nabe reservations are already open for this week, and will be open extending to the 21st. . . : @dylanandjeni . . . . . . . . #japanesecalligraphy #shinagaki #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodporn # # # # # # # # # # # # See more

Mountain Rose Apple and Watercress Shira-Ae . At Hayato we are always talking about the Big 5 Japanese cooking techniques: Sashimi, Grill, Fry, Steam, Simmer. But there are countless other dishes that don’t fall into those categories, and one of them is Aemono (Pronounced Ah-eh-moh-noh). Aemono are foods that are preparations with a sort of dressing on them, but could also be foods made simply by pairing ingredients and mixing them together. Shira-Ae is one of ...the most classic Aemono - its a dish dressed with seasoned whipped tofu. For our Shira-Ae, we gently cook tofu in hot water, then cool it and compress it under weight for a few hours to squeeze out the moisture. The tofu is pressed through a tamis, then seasoned with sugar, light soy sauce, salt and sesame paste. With this particular dish, we have mixed it with blanched watercress and Mountain Rose Apples from @mthoodorganicfarms, which are certainly the most beautiful apples I have ever seen! Although these apples are amazing, Shira-Ae is a tofu dish, and in my opinion, whatever is mixed into Shira-Ae only serves as a garnish. The tofu dressing should be good enough to be satisfying even if eaten alone. Of course, we use tofu from @meijitofu, which is indispensible to our cooking at Hayato. I have to say, Meiji Tofu may be the most underappreciated artisanal product in Southern California. It would be impossible to recreate this dish with industrial store-bought tofu. . Shira-Ae is currently included as one of the tsumami included in our cook-at-home Nabe Set, available Wed-Sunday evenings, reservations on Tock. . . : @patrick.kim (photographer as well as one of our chefs!) . . . . . . . . . #tofu #shiraae #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodporn # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # See more

Uni Tsukudani - Tsukudani is a simmering technique by which foods are preserved with soy sauce and sugar. There are countless types of Tsukudani made in Japan. Kombu is probably the most popular, but many types of seaweed are made into Tsukudani, as well as clams and other small fish. Tsukudani is powerfully seasoned, as it is typically an accompaniment to rice, but modern Tsukundani is somewhat lighter than very traditional Tsukudani, which was never refrigerated. Ou...r Uni Tsukudani is a a luxury take on what is typically a very humble dish. Santa Barbara Uni is simmered in sake, soy sauce, sugar and mirin until it becomes firm and lightly candied. This is is currently one of the Tsumami snacks that accompany our take home Nabe set - perfect to nibble on with your first few sips of sake while you wait for the Nabe to heat up! Cook-at-home Nabe sets are currently available on Tock (link in Bio), each set includes four types of tsumami and three types of sashimi as appetizers. Reservations for the first week of March become available Tuesday at 10am, some spots still available next week! . . : @patrick.kim (photographer as well as one of our chefs!) . . . . . . . . . #uni #tsukudani #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodporn # # # # # # # # # # # # # # See more

Takeout Nabe dinner reservations for February 10th-21st will be released tomorrow, Monday February 1st at 10am, simultaneously with February bento reservations. There are still a few Nabe currently available on Tock for this coming week! . . The Nabe set is a cook-at-home hotpot style meal for two that you cook on your dinner table. This set includes sashimi and four kinds of tsumami as appetizers, two liters of dashi stock, lots of seafood and vegetables, and somen noodles... to finish. Donabe pots and portable tabletop burners are available to add to your order during Tock checkout if you need them. This is a great way to keep warm on these cold winter nights! . . @patrick.kim . . #nabe #donabe #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodporn # # # # # # # # # # ## See more

Nabe takeout will be continued through February! Pickup times are available at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30pm Wednesday to Sunday evenings. Reservations will be released weekly on Tock every Tuesday at 10:00am. We thank you all for your continued support!. . . . .... . . . @dylanandjeni See more

Hayato is looking for a morning prep cook. Applicants must be experienced in Japanese food and have basic cooking and knife skills. This job requires independent work (alone) in the mornings beginning at 10am Wed and Thursday, 7:30am Friday and Saturday. Part time with opportunity to work full time depending on proficiency. $15+/hr depending on skill level. Please email resumes to [email protected] /10/[email protected]

On July 1st at 10:00 am we will be changing the way we release reservations. The current reservation window of four weeks will be will be extended to a total of two months of availability. Also, rather than having available dates open one day at a time, one entire month will open at once. All August reservations will open on July 1st at 10:00 am, all September reservations will open on August 1st at 10:00 am, etc.. Thank you all for your interest and continued support. We hope that this change will make booking easier for everyone.

For a professional chef, a Michelin star is not something like a trophy that you win and just put on the mantle for the rest of your life. When guests see this and come in, they do not come out of respect for what you have done, they come because they have an expectation of what you will do. If you choose to participate and identify yourself as a Michelin-star restaurant, then there is also an obligation to live up to the responsibility that comes with it. . When a professi...onal athlete gets to the big leagues, they play on the nicest fields with the best equipment, and every day they have an opportunity to show a global audience what they are capable of. Working in a Michelin-star restaurant is no different - every day we have access to the best ingredients and the finest dishware, and we get an opportunity to show what we can do with all these things to the dining public. It is the ultimate privilege as a professional chef to work in such a setting and make a living at it. It is not something we take for granted. . A heartfelt thank you to @michelinguide for including us in a very special group that covers the entire globe. As we close in on the end of our first year of service this is an unbelievable gift. To all our customers: Thank you for enabling us to do what we dream of doing as professional chefs. We walk in the doors every morning thinking about serving each of you as best we can. Work on Star #2 starts now! See more

We were honored to host my friend and mentor Koji Koizumi from Tokyo this week. Chef Koizumi is one of the rare ones who creates trends that everyone else rushes to follow. He is the inventor that people try to emulate. If you are in Tokyo, his 3-star Kohaku should be on your list. I am thankful for his friendship - the fact that he flew here for two nights just to eat at Hayato and then flew home says it all. . . . .... . . . #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #kohaku #kojikoizumi #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict # # # # # # # # # # # # See more

When I was a teenager I used to save the food section from the LA Times when there were reviews about restaurants I wanted to try. I still have some of these articles, a few of which are over twenty years old. I saved my money to go to all these restaurants, and I would dream about what they would be like while I waited in anticipation. I never imagined this as destination for me. My journey happened to lead me to this place because the path was always compelling, so I co...ntinued on it. I believe in newspapers, and not just because I happen to be in it today (link in bio). During those times in my life when I was clipping articles, it was the newspaper and the food writing that made the path compelling. Thank you to @latimes, and new owner Patrick Soon-Shiong for giving us our Food Section back today. As much as this article may change my life, in some ways I think reading the newspaper was just as important to me because it’s what led me here. . There is an idea in Japan expressed by the phrase Ichi Go, Ichi E. The literal translation is one time, one meeting. This represents an idea that when a meeting of people occurs, that meeting only occurs once in a lifetime, and for that reason every meeting between people is a singular opportunity that must be cherished. Seven guests come to eat at Hayato every evening. For three hours we try to devote ourselves to ensuring that the meeting is special for every person, every night. I cannot guarantee that everyone will like our restaurant. After reading an article filled with superlatives, expectations become very high, sometimes so high that there is no food that can satisfy them. But a restaurant is not just about food. I believe that when we come to work thinking about a feeling rather than just food, if everyone can capture that feeling the meeting may not be solely dependent on cooking. Of course, this also depends on reciprocation from the guests. Thank you @bill_addison, for coming in to our tiny little restaurant, giving us your attention, an opportunity, and then giving us these words of encouragement - they may carry this restaurant to another destination that we have yet to imagine. See more

There are no other words but Thank You. There are so many new restaurants in this country working incredibly hard and producing beautiful food - it’s not fair that we are one of a tiny few that get to enjoy an accolade like this from @foodandwine. Today is a day that we happen to be the lucky ones and get to enjoy the spotlight. Hayato has never been an individual effort, but we will humbly accept this award as a group, and do our best to earn it day after day, one guest... at a time. Congratulations to all the other winners! This is a very talented group that we are very excited to be associated with! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Photo credit: Ramona Rosales @ramonarosales #bestnewchefs2019 #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodandwine #fwbnc See more

https://www.bonappetit.com/st/brandon-go-hayato-los-angeles I first met Bon Appetit’s @elysei via an introduction by my friends @dylanandjeni. We talked a little before Elyse came to eat the bento, when she finally came she brought her whole family, and they all sat at the counter for lunch. As nice at is it to be featured in @bonappetitmag (link to story in bio), the real reward was seeing her family enjoying their lunch together. Multiple generations of a family, smiling..., laughing, talking about the food, reminiscing about other bento and culinary experiences in Japan - it was a special day. Never forget, that’s what all of this is about. Whether you are a food writer, a home cook, a server in a restaurant, or a professional chef, always remember that is what this is all about. We don’t study cookbooks and go to the farmer’s market and spend all day working in the kitchen so that someone can eat something, or smell something, or taste something. We do all of this so that we can feel something. Together. See more

You can never forget to control what you are capable of controlling. When you serve sashimi, the fish is caught by a man on a boat plucking something wild out of the ocean halfway around the world. Regardless of what you pay for wild seafood, there is never a complete guarantee of quality. Even if you pay for fish that should be a ten out of ten, sometimes you get fish that’s a nine out of ten. But the fish is not the only thing you taste - you can buy the best wasabi, an...d you will inevitably help yourself. Soy sauce cannot just be poured out of a bottle - raw soy sauce contains some alcohol that needs to be softened, and its salinity needs to be diluted so that it is not overbearing. Soy sauce also oxidizes extremely quickly - it’s such a shame to see good sashimi served with soy sauce that is so old it has turned black. When you have perfect fish, it’s easy to get lazy, but being a professional means dotting all your I’s and crossing all your T’s. When you have fish that’s a nine out of ten, the final dish needs to be 90% at worst. Don’t ever give points away. . Thank you all for your continued support. Single seats still available for the next few weeks - come treat yourself to some seafood and a glass of champagne! . Photo by our great friends @dylanandjeni . #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodporn #wasabi #sashimi # # # # # # # # # # # # See more

What an honor to be included at #4 in @lamag’s list of Best New Restaurants of 2018! It goes without saying that it’s very humbling to be included in a group of such talented, hardworking people. Our tiny little restaurant serves so few guests that was exciting just to have @g_sny come to eat, much less write an article about what we are doing and then include us in this list. As long as people leave our restaurant happy, then we have done all that we set out to do. It ha...s been our singular goal this first year to make every person happy one guest at a time. If we have done that, then this sort of recognition is just icing on the cake. And we get to go to a party! Reception tonight at 7pm, Rolling Greens Arts District, tickets available at the door (link in bio) . . . . . . . . . . #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #LAmag #foodie See more

Kani Shinjo Owan photo by my friends, the very talented team @dylanandjeni . Owan is the Japanese word for lidded bowl, an essential component of a kaiseki or Japanese tasting menu. On the cover of his book of Owan, legendary chef Kenichi Nishi of the famed restaurant Kyo Aji wrote Owan is the leading actor of Japanese Cuisine. I tend to agree. Even before you taste its contents, just the feel of the bowl itself has no other counterpart in the culinary world. Japan...ese lacquerware is made out of wood, and because it never feels hot you can drink directly out of it without worrying about burning your hands or lips. The smoothness of lacquerware is unparalleled by ceramic vessels, and the sound of chopsticks in wooden lacquerware is so gentle that it makes silverware on a plate seem like fingernails on a chalkboard. The sensory experience of Owan is very unique. Because it arrives to the table covered, it immediately captures your attention by the aroma that is released when you open the lid. The first sip of dashi further focuses the attention, as umami engulfs the palate and gently clears the way for the featured ingredient to be enjoyed with clarity. The dashi creates a blank backdrop for delicate flavors to be savored without other distractions in the dish. In the case of something delicate like crab, other techniques such as grilling, simmering or frying would clutter the flavor of the crab. When we cook crab simply by steaming, Owan is a format that allows us to pair it with a very precise amount of umami and seasoning, and makes it possible to narrow the diners focus in a way that is impossible with other techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . #owan #suimono #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict #foodporn #kani #urushi # # # # # # # # # # # # # # See more

I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to @timeoutla and @breij for naming the bento the #1 dish of 2018 and giving us the cover. It has been exactly one year since I made the first bento. You would think that investing your life savings in a restaurant and having zero customers is the worst feeling you can have, but I can tell you from experience that getting up at 6am and working all day to make a single bento is much worse. That happened a lot. As one might imagine..., when you spend all day in the kitchen alone making a single bento there is a lot of time for negative thoughts to run through your head. But everyone constantly encouraged me. You picked me up when I needed to be picked up. I often wanted to give up, but I felt that there was nothing to do but continue because what I put in the bento is my best effort. If you give your best effort and nobody shows up, what else can you do? All I wanted to do with the bento was give guests something that would make them happy. Even if it took an entire day to please a single person, if they were happy I told myself that is a 100% success rate. The bento continues to be a labor of love, but I feel so much gratitude for all the support, and the friend that told me to stop worrying about the number of customers and commit to making the bento for a year. It has been a year now. A really crazy year. Thank you. . . . . . . . . . . . . . #nihonryori #nihonryouri #washoku #kaiseki #DTLA #Hayato #rowdtla #artsdistrict # # # # # # # # # # #la #timeoutla See more

Thank you Los Angeles Magazine! Such an honor to be featured in a publication I have read my whole life. This has been a very difficult journey, but as long as our guests leave happy then I am happy to be making a living doing what I love.